


Nonage

by J-Bfan (Mysterie), JackfrostTruefrost300



Series: Mortal Guardians [14]
Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Creativity, Cussing, Deception, F/M, Family, Love, M/M, Manipulation, Multi, Older Jamie, Oral Sex, Spirit Jamie, puppetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-19 21:47:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 26,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4762205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterie/pseuds/J-Bfan, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackfrostTruefrost300/pseuds/JackfrostTruefrost300
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The greatest of adventures and challenges to come are right at home with the children that have come into the world, only two of which were expected... </p><p> </p><p>Sequel to Abound<br/>[14th Installment]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Key & Obsticle

"You think you are smart... but you are not. You cannot hide, you cannot run." Luke squirms restlessly in the grip of Mother Nature's vines.

"YOU BITCH!" Jack glares at Luke.

"Excuse me." Jack gives him too swats on the bottom.

"LANGUAGE YOUNG MAN!" Jack growls only to get a backlash of pain.

"OW!" Luke giggles.

"You think you can punish me papa, think again!" 

"Time to correct this." Her eyes gleam and she gently taps Luke's head, his influence over Jack seems to wink out of existence. As if his power had never been. Jack backs up a little as Luke begins crying loudly, making the walls shake from the pain it causes him; it makes Jack's heart hurt.

"STOP! YOU'RE HURTING HIM!!" 

"Not my doing, son. He is trying to fight the inevitable and in doing so is causing himself the pain. He is trying to maintain his power... it will not last more than a few more moments. The spell never fails." It is true, because the spell doesn't attack the child or even the power itself, but simply steals away a part of the soul itself that is the source of the magic. Luke fights its influence for all his worth, but in another moment his cries are no longer of pain, but of frustration because what has been his has been stolen away to be kept until it can be given to another or simply wither and wink out if too much time passes. Jack takes him from the vines as he whines in anger at Mother Nature.

"So, you mean he's a powerless, immortal baby now?" 

"Yes." She responds as the vines relinquish their hold on him, allowing Jack to take the tiny immortal. Jack holds the infant close as if he was going to die.

"God... do you do this often to infants?" 

"No. Only when absolutely necessary. It was pretty clear when you came to me that it needed to be done. I could sense his power over you." Jack sighs and leaves the Nature Palace; he grabs Randy and takes the two into the room that Mysterie is in to met their newborn counterparts. Mother Nature follows, smiling at Randy and the newborns when she moves into the room behind Jack. Jamie is napping, Andrew is holding Noah, who is dead to the world, while sitting on the edge of the bed near Mysterie as she feeds Brianna. She looks over and smiles as the two come in.

"I thought I might come see my new grandchildren." 

 

 

"Of course. Andrew has Noah, sleeps like a rock that one. Brianna is having lunch and I see you've already met Luke and Randy." She smiles and nods. Jack sniffs a little, sensing Luke's pain of loss; Jack settles on the mattress near the bed and falls asleep with Luke against his chest. When Jack wakes up again Mysterie is asleep with Noah and Brianna nestled in their own bassinet, Randy and Luke are just waking from their naps and Jamie is walking into the room. Jack turns in his sleep, hugging Luke with all the love he can muster. Randy crawls over to his brother at some point, as if feeling sympathy for him; he curls up near Luke on the other side of Jack's arms, one tiny hand on his brother's. Jack notices.  _Awww..._ Randy yawns a little, curling his little fingers around his brother's as if to say: it's okay big brother... I'm here for you. 

"So darned cute." Jamie mutters with a bit of a smile.

"Just thought you'd like to know that I have remodeled the nursery so it will hold the whole group now." Jack smiles, pulling out a camera from nearby and takes a picture.

"So cute!!" Jamie chuckles.

"That it is." Jack smiles.

"Let's take them to their new home." Jamie smiles.

"Well, let's just take these two for now. We should wait until Mysterie wakes up to take the other two." Jack nods, picking up Randy and Luke, who seem slightly dead to the world, which worries Jack. Jamie just chuckles a little.

"They sleep like you do." Jack snickers.

"Yes... yes they do." Jamie just grins and makes his way to the nearest window to slip outside onto the wind and head off to the castle. Jack smiles, holding Luke closer; Jamie had taken Randy, Jack feels really worried about Luke now.

"You seem worried, any reason?" Jamie asks as he lands in a room next to the nursery, as for safety reasons the nursery itself doesn't have a window. Something Jamie has changed recently. Jack sighs.

"Yeah. Luke... he's... seems so dead and lost." 

"Well, I imagine he'll need time to adjust. After all he was born with an extreme amount of power even his brother didn't display and they're as old as the original twins. Kids bounce back easy, give him about a week or so and I'm sure he'll have grown accustom." Jack sighs.

"Alright." He sets him next to his twin, Randy, looking just worried as they are set in matching cribs. Jack smiles as he glances about the room now.

 

 

"The room... it's perfect." Luke crawls towards the teddy that looks at him like 'welcome home' and Luke hugs Mr. Teddy as it hugs him back.

"Awww." Jamie smiles a little, the only other real change to the room that is visible is the appearance of the cradles; there are four of them and each one has the name of the children on them. Luke and Randy's are next to each other while Brianna and Noah's are closest to each other, but there is still enough space to get to one side of each of the cribs.

"Glad you approve." Jack smiles and Jamie chuckles.

"It's beautiful Jamie." Jamie smiles a little.

"Also, while I was here I added some protective wards too that I read about in North's library. I think even Pitch is going to have a hard time getting into the the nursery now and he can move through shadows. Not that we can't handle him, but better safe than sorry right? The wards here only let you, me and Mysterie past the doorway. Anyone else will find themselves transported to a random room elsewhere in the castle. Jack nods.

"Wow, that's awesome." 

"Yeah, took me a few days to find all the spells for it. I thought it might protect Randy and Luke once they were ready to be moved. Although when I started thinking about it those two weren't born yet... We didn't even know they were there actually when I started looking into it while you two were asleep. Jack nods.

"Yeah, shocked me quite a bit too hehe." Jack smiles but it disappears soon.

"Surprised us all I think..." 

"Someone's here and it smells like a cat." Jamie frowns at that and looks at Jack.

"Stay here... I'll go check. If it's a cat it's probably that troublemaker..." He leaves the room only to find himself faced with an entire army of saber tooth cats and twin tails.

"GIVE US JACK!" Jamie crosses his arms, raising an eyebrow at the group; hardly intimidated.

"You come uninvited into MY home and dare make THAT demand of me? Just how stupid are you?" Hera growls as do other twin tails with her, fire hits the castle, a bit of flame entering through the door and hitting Jack who is protecting Luke and Randy.


	2. Homecoming Fun

"OWW!!" The fire is put out easily enough and the door to the nursery disappears as if it never was; the entire group is suddenly slammed into either a wall or ceiling as the castle's floor ripples at Jamie's silent command. He scowls at them, a few are shoved out one of the windows and off the cliffside. Hera leaps at Jamie, attacking without mercy; Jamie dodges her blows and when she lunges for him again he slams a wall of ice between them to daze her before the wall lowers and he slams a fireball in her face. She screams in pain, meanwhile Jack whines in the nursery as he can feel his children's fear. The castle continues tossing the felines out windows until it's just Jamie and Hera now; he scowls at her as she is forced to retreat.

"I will say this ONE time only as a warning. If I EVER even  **hear** of you anywhere near Jack or our children... they will have cat skin toys... is that clear?" Hera hisses in response, but reluctantly leaves. Jamie watches her leave, but the wards let him know once she's past them... and he's got several now. Once the furthest away is triggered he puts the castle back the way it had been and returns to the nursery.

"There, hopefully she'll have the brains not to come back." Jack nods, shivering as the fear is overwhelming. Jamie gently sends soothing feelings along the bond to the two children and Jack who sighs and hugs the twins. 

"If they're smart, they won't ever come back; I think Mysterie is awake, why don't you settle the two while I go help her move the twins?" Jack nods, hugging the twins who now put out feelings of fear. Jack sighs and situates the two in their separate cradles and sits nearby in a rocking chair to tell them a story to distract them. Jamie smiles a little.

"No worries now, you'll be safe here with your father while I got fetch your mother and your brother and sister." Jamie teleports back to the North Pole; Jack never leaves the nursery, not even for a second as he's too worried for their little lives. Jamie returns with Mysterie several minutes later; she's carrying Noah and Jamie is carrying Brianna, who is asleep but Noah is wide awake and listening to everything around him. He seems to be paying attention to everything all at once. Jack, meanwhile, has fallen asleep and Luke and Randy have decided to sleep with him. Mysterie smiles a little as she settles Noah in his new bed while Jamie does the same with Brianna. Jack wakes up.

"Huh?" He looks to see that Randy and Luke are hugging onto him like joeys.

"Awww, so cute..." Jack falls back to sleep again, his mind not registering that he'd put them in their cribs before hand before telling them the story... Mysterie smiles a little more, taking a picture with Jack's camera of the cute scene that he and the boys make. Jack giggles in his sleep, as do the two boys, causing Mysterie to chuckle softly. Jack toots slightly, seconds later come two more... She shakes her head.

"Geeze... one of these days we won't be able to tell 'em apart except by looking." Jamie says softly and Mysterie just laughs quietly, humming softly to put Noah to sleep before the two of them leave the room. An hour later Jack wakes up to crying.

"Huh?" It isn't Luke or Randy, or even Noah; it's Brianna. Jack sets the twin boys in their cribs and makes his way to her, shussing and cooing; trying to quiet her down so she doesn't wake her brothers. He picks her up.

"Shhh, shhh... it's okay, daddy's here." She continues to cry until Jack decides to sing her one of the songs that his own mother used to sing to him and his little sister; Brianna calms down and snuggles close to Jack. Mysterie comes in with two bottles.

 

 

"Probably time to feed some munchkins about now." Jamie comes in holding two more; he picks up Randy while Mysterie picks up Noah who is waking up again. Mysterie hands Jack a bottle, setting Luke's bottle down near him while she holds Noah in her free arm and holds the bottle for him as he has his lunch. Jack nods in agreement as they feed the babies; Luke takes the bottle himself and drinks it like a growing toddler; in fact, he looks a bit older than the rest of his siblings; Jack smiles and pats Brianna on the back until she burps loudly. Mysterie smiles as she burps Noah while Jamie takes care of Randy before setting him down and picking up Luke to burp him next once he's seen him finish his bottle.

"There now, you're sure getting big Luke... we're going to have to start potty training you soon... phew... speaking of which... I think we need to change your diaper." Jamie caries him over to the changing station and, remembering to use a towel, wipes and powder, rids him of the stinky diaper and gets him a new one. Jack brings Brianna over and squeals at the difference.

"EEE!!!" He covers her with a towel. Jamie looks over at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Wow... that's just some bad timing on your part Jack..." Jack groans.

"Shut up..." He cleans her up, powders her and gets her a new diaper. Jamie tsks at Jack.

"Ah ah, language Jack." He helps clean Jack up before being handed Noah whom he changes next while Mysterie changes Randy on the floor. Jack glares at Jamie and picks up the blankets and toys that North gave him for this occasion, he smiles.

"Let's introduce them to toys."

"Hey, you're the one who made the biggest fuss when Randy's first word was..." Jamie then proceeds to spell it out as the children aren't smart enough to spell yet.

"Yes... and wasn't I the one who warned you about that?" Jack sighs and hits Jamie with a smelly diaper.

"Payback Bennett." He runs away while the children clap, cheering him on.

"Agh! Jack! That was foul!" Mysterie snickers.

"Maybe, but not as foul as that joke." Jamie tosses the dirty thing in the trash.

"Oh you are not getting away!" Jamie gives chase while Mysterie watches with a chuckle. Jack eeps and takes off full speed away from Jamie, snickering like Bugs Bunny, he makes a road and tunnel, running through it while Jamie hits it and becomes flat as a pancake when a car runs over him next. 

 

 

"Hey! No fair! I can't do that!" Jamie calls, picking himself up from almost being actually hit by the car; fortunately there is enough room to keep it from doing any damage to him. Jack giggles as he pops up nearby.

"What's up doc?"  He is chewing on a carrot, being sly as he dodges him yet again and then mimics the Road Runner.

"Meep meep!" He takes off, making the children clap.

"Very funny Jack." Jamie teleports in front of him, catching him a millisecond later.

"Gotcha!" He grins and then mercilessly begins to tickle Jack, since it is really the only thing he should probably be doing in front of the children. Jack giggles, laughing hard.

"N-NO! CHILDREN! SOMEONE! HELP!!" Luke tries as he hugs Jamie's leg.

"Wet dadwe go." 

"Well okay... guess I can get you instead!" Jamie turns to Luke, tickling the child more gently than he had Jack. Luke giggles.

"NO! DADWE HWELP!" Jack snickers.

"Oh yes, I shall." Jack tickles Jamie into submission and before he knows it, he's also being ganged up on by Randy, Brianna, and Noah as well.

"H-h-hey! N-no f-fair!" He manages between his fits of laughter.

"H-help!" Mysterie chuckles then lifts each of the children away on small clouds of sand.

"Alright, that's enough ganging up on Daddy Jamie." The four get a mischievous gleam and look at Jack.

"NOOOOO!!!" He's tackles by his sons and daughter. Mysterie laughs as the group tickles Jack next, giving them a few minutes before Jamie helps her tug them off Jack while the two of them chuckle.

"Alright. Enough of that for now. You can get your father and daddy later... and don't even THINK about getting me." The group pouts.

"Hey, let's play with the toys North got you." Jack says with a smiles and hands each of them their own teddy except that Brianna insists on keeping the embroidered elephant called Emma. Jack sighs and hands it to her.

"This used to be my sister's, but now it's yours." Jack pets her head while the boys play with squishy soft cars as if they'd been born knowing how to. Mysterie just smiles as the twins fall asleep while Luke and Randy play together with their cars. Jack slowly falls asleep on the floor nearby and is the "road" now as the twins use him, his tummy and face, as a road; Luke tries to use Jack's mouth as a tunnel. Jamie catches Luke's hand before he can let go and sets him away from Jack before moving Randy as well, chiding quietly so not to wake Jack.

"No, no you two. Not a good idea." Mysterie uses her sand to lift Jack onto a cloud just big enough for him to sleep on that hangs just out of their reach. Jamie sits with them with a smile as Mr. Teddy toddles over to join in the play. Jack turns in his sleep, chewing on the sand pillow like food, Noah and Brianna do the same; Mysterie takes the sand from Jack's mouth, replacing it with an actual pillow while the twins are chewing on their own pillows.

 


	3. Firsts

Jack chews on the pillow, making a "mmm" sound in his sleep and the twins do as well. Jamie chuckles while Mysterie just shakes her head; she isn't sure she'd ever understand what that is all about or why the twins have inherited it from him. The sleeping twins are silent but the other two whine, wanting their living road and mouth tunnel back.

"DADWE!" Luke calls, reaching for him.

"Shhh... your father is sleeping Luke. Let him rest, he needs his sleep just like you do." Jamie murmurs.

"Tell you what... I'm going to show you two one of the special places here I made for your father... would you like that?" The two jump up, ecstatic.

"Yay!!" The two clap as Jack turns, dreaming of sorts, but not very appropriate dreams. Jamie picks them both up and smiles at them while Mysterie murmurs over the bond.

 _"Good timing with that distraction.... just glad the twins are both asleep too... They really shouldn't see what Sandy's dream is showing... I didn't even know his sand showed this kind of thing!"_ Jamie sends a chuckle over the bond as he takes the two to the ice garden, showing them the different ice sculptures and tell them the story behind each; how some were inspired by Jack's own childhood and others by what he'd learned of Jack later on in his life, before he'd become a spirit and even a couple that had been inspired by both Jack and Mysterie. The two clapped, "oohing" and "awwwing" at each. Jack, meanwhile, giggles in his sleep as the dream becomes even more inappropriate than ever so that the sand people become covered by blurry sand. Mysterie rolls here eyes at this, touching the sand stream that connects the dream to Sandy, sending a bit of her sand back along to the little man with the impression of 'wth?! I didn't know you did this!' Sandy sends back his reply, via a different stream to talk to her on.

_Jack requested it, only once in a great while; otherwise I would never touch his dreams._

Jack giggles in his sleep.

"Mmmm..." She shakes her head a little, settling back with a yawn as she will sleep soon herself. Jack smiles as the sand lowers him down slowly. Randy and Luke, meanwhile, are having a ball with Jamie who is keeping them entertained with stories until they begin to yawn. Mysterie takes Jack off to the nearest bedroom before settling down in one herself to sleep. The twins yawn loudly before falling asleep; Jamie takes them both back to the nursery, tucking each one into their crib before heading to the kitchen for a snack. Jack sighs in contentment when he wakes up an hour later; Mysterie is still sleeping and Jamie is flipping through tittles in the library. After a moment's thought he seals off the library from the children so that they cannot enter themselves. After all, there are things in the library no child should be reading because magic, in untrained hands, even good magic... could be disastrous. Jack smiles and stretches, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before he goes to see what Jamie is doing. Jamie runs through some of the titles to see if he recently picked up anything he can use as a story book for the children besides his sister's ongoing books.

"Hey Jamie, what are you doing?"

 

 

"Hey Jack, sleep well? I was just seeing if I had anything here that might double as a story book for the kids. Might have to pick some up." Jack smiles.

"Yeah, I might have some but I'll have to dig 'em out of the place I buried 'em."

"Wait... what? You have some?" Jamie looks a little confused. 

"I'll have to go check the books I got from the libraries here. They were gifts, mostly from free book days." 

"Nice, I guess I didn't think much on picking up books that weren't either gifts or my sister's." Jack smiles.

"Well, the one that spoke out to me the most was The Boy Who Cried Wolf." Jack snickers.

"And Jack and the Beanstalk. I even tried finding beans for a century to see if I could manage the feat Jack did in the book." Jamie laughs at that.

"Nice one. Although why the story, The Boy Who Cried Wolf?" Jack smiles.

"Well, I used to do tricks as did the boy and eventually no one came and he was ate by the wolf." Jack giggles.

"I did that once, I was the boy." He laughs a little, realizing this.

"This story was true, only I didn't get eaten; my father killed it." 

"Never would have guessed that one for real... although most fairy tales are based on either real things or life lessons." Jack smiles.

"Red Riding Hood was, her true name was Mandy but everyone called her Red; she was annoying, more than annoying then. I found many things annoying in that time." Jamie chuckles a little at that.

"Did she actually get eaten and rescued or was that just a myth?"

"All true, everyone called her wolf breath for a bit, the axeman just happened to be coming by; thank God he did." Jack snickers.

"I'll go get the books, stay here." Jamie nods, chuckling a little. Luke and Randy wake from their nap, crying and looking for Jack.

"DADWE!!!" Which wakes the newborns and they begin crying too. Mysterie sighs a little as she settles the newborns down, hearing the commotion, Jamie leaves the library to see what's upset Luke and Randy.

 

 

"Hey now, what's all the fuss?" He asks gently, picking them both up. Luke sniffs.

"Dadwe, I want dadwe." Randy is only crying for attention and stops as soon as Jamie picks him up; meanwhile Jack searches through his stock of books, finding all of those that would be appropriate for the children.

"He went to go get you something. He'll be back soon." Jamie says reassuringly while he bounces both of them gently in his arms while Mysterie settles the twins, feeding them their lunch one at a time. The two boys decide to play cars on Jamie, one bonking into his nose.

"Ow... hey now... no playing bumper cars." The two giggle and the next thing Jamie knows is that he has a mustache on him from the cars having been dipped in some of Jack's special paints.

"Hey! No playing in the paint until you're older!" Jamie puts the paints out of reach, wondering how the two got them in the first place before cleaning himself up along with the cars and two giggling toddler-infants. Jack returns with a bag of books.

"I'm back, and I brought a disney move too; The Hunchback of Notre Dame but I'm not sure they're old enough for that or will like it since it's a love story." Jack chuckles and Jamie chuckles a little in response.

"It's colorful, they'll enjoy that much of it." Jack smiles.

"Alright." Jack puts it in the VHS player, setting the kids on soft pillows and adding colorful stuffed animals around as the first song begins, but low enough so it doesn't hurt their ears; they clap at the characters as Jack sets other toys and snacks around for the kids too. Jamie smiles a little.

"Where'd you find a working VHS in today's world?" Jack smiles back.

"It's collection from junk I fixed." 

"So... then you fixed the tape?" Jamie asked, a little uncertain if that was what he meant. Jack nods.

"Yep." The two clap at the colorful "fools festival" and Jack sighs.

"I'm worn out." 

"Go take a nap then, I'll watch 'em. I had lunch so I've got the energy to spare and Mysterie should be up soon." Jack nods as he settles on the couch, already on the napping. Jamie smiles a little, making sure Jack's comfortable while he watches the two who seem fascinated by the movie's colors more than anything else. Jack dreams of stories, strangely enough, familiar ones he'd told at camp fires. Luke touches the sand and claps as it turns into dinosaurs. Jamie chuckles a little at that. As the movie ends, Brianna crawls toward Jack and pushes up wobbly on two legs; Jamie watches as Brianna looks at Jack, taking a very wobbly first step while her brothers are content to play with some plush blocks. Jack snores, unaware of the amazing feat his daughter is making as she makes two more steps before falling. Mysterie chuckles a little as she comes in, watching the four with Jamie. Brianna doesn't give up though as she stands up again; walking another step, she makes it over to Jack and tries to crawl up the couch and into his lap. Jamie chuckles and interferes, setting her into his lap.


	4. Doctor's Calling

"Not now Brianna. Let your father sleep." She pouts cutely, meanwhile the boys have launched styrofoam peanuts into Jack's mouth; having found some boxes full of the stuff. Mysterie fishes the "peanuts" out of Jack's mouth with a bit of sand and blocks the boys from doing it further; making them a tiny basketball hoop to shoot the "peanuts" into instead. The two giggle happily and accept their new target. Jamie picks Jack up and heads for the nearest room to settle with him for a nap himself while Mysterie watches the munchkins. While Jamie drifts off, the boys get into some of Jack's papers that he was given to fill out by North, they make paper people out of them.

"Oh dear... I hope those weren't important." Mysterie mumbles, providing the boys with construction paper as she tries to rescue some of the paperwork from them. Unfortunately it was very important paper work for learning the new whereabouts of Pitch and other enemies. Mysterie puts away what little she manages to rescue; Jack rolls into Jamie in his sleep, accidentally kicking him off the bed. Jamie lands on the floor with a thud, with a sigh he gets up and moves to the opposite side of the bed only for the same thing to happen minutes later. Jamie wraps Jack up in blankets to keep it from happening  _again_ and then settles on the bed. This time Jack rolls over onto Jamie in his burrito blanket and lays on top of him; there's a loud exchange of gas.

"It will just serve your right if there was more than just gas there..." Jamie mutters; Jack sighs and again the blankets vibrate; Jack snores before rolling off Jamie minutes later. Luke and Randy managed to get into more trouble by drawing on the walls with permanent markers that Jack has for special pranking occasions. Mysterie confiscates them, chiding them about using them on the walls and gives them crayons and paper for coloring. They draw on the wall instead; Mysterie swats their bottoms for it this time and the two cry. Their cries manage to wake Jack up.

"Huh... oh.." Mysterie sighs and takes the two back to the nursery for a changing, feeding, burping and then a nap. The twin infants are carried along on a cloud of sand, gurgling happily at the sand creatures that dance about them. Jack walks into the nursery.

"Why were they upset?" 

"Didn't like getting swatted for coloring on the walls after I scolded them about it the first time." Mysterie replies quietly as she is changing Brianna now while the twins sleep in their cribs. Jack sighs.

"They're quite the handful." 

"Yes... well the first time was with YOUR permanent markers... also... I hope that paperwork you had wasn't too important. They got into that too... after playing "shoot the styrofoam into your mouth" game." Jack gasps.

"Wait... was it pink paperwork?" 

"Some of it... I think... they turned it into paper figures before I rescued some of it I'm afraid." 

"NOOO! That was my paper for the dentist check up with Tooth!" Mysterie winces a little.

 

 

"Sorry dear... well, not all of it was pink... I think there was some red and blue sheets too before I gave them construction paper to play with." Jack groans.

"Those were the school papers from a school of spirits day care... I needed those!!" He sighs tiredly.

"Anything I need to know?" 

"No. Don't think so." Jack nods.

"Okay, well, I'm going to North to tell him I'm gonna need another piece of the paperwork and assignments for weather that he gave me."

"Alright." She sets Brianna on the changing table to change Noah and then gives them both a bottle, using sand to hold the bottles while she holds them as Jack leaves to get the paperwork. Mysterie puts the infants down for a nap and settles in the nursery's rocking chair with a book to keep an eye on them for a while until she's sure they're asleep. Jack returns with the papers.

"I'll keep these in the study." He sighs to himself.

"Man, being a parent is hard work." Jamie yawns, waking from his nap; Jack sits and plays a game on a PSP that he was a gift from North, for those days when he's bored. Mysterie finds Jack in the study, playing a game; she watches him play, content to do so as she relaxes for the moment. Jack beats the game easily enough but then gets bored and puts the game into his pocket.

"That was a quick game." Jack nods.

"I'm gonna go spread my scheduled snow next." 

"Alright." Jack flies out. Mysterie goes back to the nursery to keep an eye on the four sleeping children. Jack was doing fine with the weather, only to feel after a moment like he is being watched. Jamie frowns a little as he sorts through some books; he has that strange feeling from Jack and sends an impression that he should be careful... Concerned, he moves through the castle with a thoughtful frown. jack sends back the impression of "ok" as he keeps feeling as if he's being watched. He looks around the area to make sure no other spirits are near, but he sees nothing. The longer the feeling persists the more concerned Jamie becomes for Jack. Jack yelps as he's nearly captured in a net.

"It's phenomenal, you sure the doc wants him?" The other scientist nods.

"Yep." Jack can't get away as he is tranquilized almost immediately despite having avoided the net. Alarmed, Jamie teleports in an instant to Jack's location; blinding everyone in the area temporarily before he snatches Jack up and flies off before they can recover. He really hates it when his instincts are right... Jack shivers, whatever they have tagged him with they also put a tracking device in him like they did with animals. Jamie takes Jack back to the castle; the second magical ward around the it deactivating the tracker; after all, magic did that sort of thing when too close to the home of a spirit. It is a standard defense and keeps trackers from finding their exact location. Five miles from any spirit's home does such a thing; Jack shivers as whatever chemicals were in him besides the tranquilizer hurt. 

 

 

"One of us needs to put her down for the sake of everything else on this planet..." Jamie grumbles. Jack shakes more in pain, coughing up many of the chemicals. Jamie takes Jack to a room he's set up like an infirmary and hands Jack a glass.

"This will taste rotten, but it will also cause you to toss up anything they shot you with too. A little trick curtesy of a book from Mother Nature." Jack groans, shivering, but he drinks it and almost immediately he tosses up a red glowing liquid with acid. Jamie winces, rubbing Jack's back in sympathy as the liquid hits a pan he'd put in front of Jack barely in time. Jack whines, the chemicals looking like a burning, glowing acid; it was supposed to keep him under her control if digested. Jamie sighs a little.

"Maybe I'll send Tooth and Bunny... Bunny's been antsy for a fight since the feline incident." Jack coughs, still tossing up the serum.

"Jamie..." 

"Hmmmm?" Jack groans in pain.

"What happened to me?" Jack feels tired and loopy from the dart.

"From what I saw. You were ambushed by the "good doctor's" goons." Jamie spat the words out. Jack groans.

"Not again..." He coughs.

"It sounds like she wants me more than ever now..." He can feel it.

"Yeah. Well I have a feeling Bunny is going to enjoy this..." Jamie pulls out a royal purple comm. Tapping a few buttons he shakes his head at the near immediate response as Jack hugs his middle, whining.

"There was more to that juice... I know it." He groans, feeling nothing but pain.

"Well, it should all come up... or worst case... out the other end..." Jamie winces a little at that. Jack groans.

"It's not gonna come up or out..." Jack's body seems to glow, under his skin show millions of little robots attaching to him.

"Great... nanos.... better get Mysterie..." Jamie sends for her over the bond.

"Looks like I have kid duty. I will be with them if you need me." Jamie teleports from the room. Jack groans, shaking and crying.

"It hurts!!" 


	5. An End

Mysterie appears from a whirl of sand.

"I'm gonna skin that woman alive..." She growls.

"Hold as still as you can. This will only hurt for a split second. Though it will make you better." Jack starts to struggle at that.

"N-no!!" He squirms relentlessly. She sighs.

"Figure of speech Jack... I'm not honestly going to skin her alive... Bunny won't leave me enough for that even if I wanted to. Now, hold still." Jack runs out of the room.

"NO!" He squeals, knowing it will be painful. Mysterie lassoes him with a bit of sand and yanks him back.

"It's going to be worse if I don't do this hun." Before he can get away again, she sends a tiny jolt of electricity through his body; enough to make him yelp a little, but also more than enough to cause the tiny robots to shut down. Jack whines, squirming relentlessly as the shock didn't shut down the one that had made its home in Jack's brain and he cries out.

"STOP! IT HURTS MORE!" 

"Hold still... this one is less cooperative... trust me. I won't jolt you again. This one requires... more... tact." She says, closing her eyes, narrowing her concentration on the tiny robot that refuses to shut down; all it takes is a little tinkering on her part and the tiny thing begins to tear itself apart, becoming completely harmless to Jack who collapses into her arms.

"Mysterie, what if she tries to come get me? What if Bunny is in trouble? I can feel something's not right!!" 

"Jack, hun... relax will you?" She holds him close.

"Have some faith in the others... Bunny knows what he's doing and he didn't go alone. I know because Jamie told me before I left." Jack shivers.

"I DON'T LIKE IT! I DON'T!" Jack struggles from her grip and flies out the window. She sighs and pulls out her silver comm to send a quick message to Tooth and Bunny. The two send one back; they weren't having as many problems as had been expected. Tooth's fairies took out all the technology before the doctor had even been aware that they were there and Tooth and taken care of the poor wolves after Bunny had led them on a merry chase into her blades just to free the poor beasts before they dealt with the humans... who, despite their guns, weren't any match for Bunny's magic. Though so far they hadn't found the doctor herself yet. Jack flies as fast as he can.

"Something's wrong... it's not good." He mutters to himself, breathing heavily even as two darts land; one in Tooth and the other in Bunny, several fly through the air at the fairies, knocking them out.

 

 

"Yes... come Jack, fall into my trap..." The woman chuckles to herself. Tooth is down and out along with her fairies, but Bunny is up again after a few seconds. He'd prepared for it, though Tooth and her fairies not so much. It gave him the chance to do what the doctor hasn't expected... slamming her into the wall.

"Mysterie was right... I'm gonna enjoy taking you down sheila..." She snickers as volts of electricity suddenly shock the rabbit, bringing him down as she smiles.

"No, I'm gonna enjoy skinning you alive rabbit." Meanwhile, Jack lands in the clearing, dodging the many darts; faster than a cheetah he takes down the various traps. The volts had done a number on Bunny, for sure, but it wasn't enough to knock him completely out and he does something she didn't expect at all then. He changes form, shifting into a creature that hadn't ever been seen on Earth. He looks like a large snake, except that he had armor instead of fur and fangs that are as long as her arms. Once it completes, he is able to rise as if nothing had happened; a soft hissing sound comes from the Pooka... the thing about Pooka that no one on Earth knew, is that they are shape shifters... Any technological trick the doctor might have up her sleeve now is useless against him. Even electricity isn't an issue for the creature he's become. He darts towards her, fast even in this form and coils around her. She yells in surprise; both unaware that Jack has fallen into one of her traps, tranquilized and tagged with a chip. The two over seeing the operation check out Jack's newly acquired abilities and appendages before pressing a button to shock him to his core. He screams in agony. Bunny, unaware that Jack has arrived, squeezes the doctor until she is nearly unconscious before he swallows her whole. He then proceeds to slither through the entire complex... devouring every human he comes across. He is sick and tired of humans doing crap like this... If they are stupid enough to be here... they are stupid enough to be fodder... Yeah, he'd regret this later... but these weren't innocent children. They were evil adults... and no one would be the wiser of his "snack." It isn't until he's half way through swallowing the final human that he notices Jack in a room... His eyes flash dangerously and he slowly begins to shift as he works to use the primitive technology to try and reverse what has been done... He wishes he could have taken a page out of Mysterie's book with the woman... but she had screamed nicely enough... Well, he'll have to be happy with that. Unfortunately his attempts to reverse don't work as expected and the elements slam into the rabbit as Jack flies up on his wings, slashing at the Pooka with his claws, he bites into the rabbit's throat, his eyes a green color. Bunny barely manages to protect himself with the magic wards he'd doused himself with before coming here, but it's not enough to do more than keep Jack's attacks from being lethal. He dodges another attack, slamming a few buttons in hopes he gets the command right this time to shut down the commands; forcing Jack to be dormant again... It's the wrong combination. Jack screams in pain before going dormant; he holds his head, green eyes dimming as he collapses, his wings protecting him in a barrier of magic from anything. Bunny winces at that.

"Sorry mate..." He picks Jack up and carries him out of the place as Tooth and her fairies are coming around again. They head for the pole; Jack is completely out for the count. Bunny explains to North what he'd found and North and the yetis set to work trying to remove the various chemicals and other things from Jack's system while Jamie contacts Mysterie about what has happened. She sighs... then smacks the nearest wall with the comm in frustration. Hadn't she WARNED Jack to stay away? Hadn't she said to trust them? 

"Damn that woman! If she wasn't already dead I'd skin her alive and then burn what was left!" Jack wakes up about an hour later, tired and feeling drowsy but still awake. He gasps, bolting up from the bed in fear and worry.

 

 

"Easy there mate, ya had it rough." Bunny is settled in a chair near the bed when Jack looks over at him. He gasps.

"W-what happened?" He looks at Bunny as his mind begins to come up with various things.

"What happened to me? Where's Mysterie? Are the kids alright? Jamie!" Jack is worried that something had happened to them.

"They're fine mate. It's you that has them worryin' ... Ya walked straight inta that woman's trap 'cuz ya didn' listen ta Mysterie." Jack groans.

"My head..." He shakes his head only for his antlers to get caught up in the wiring.

"Augh." Bunny carefully helps him untangle the two.

"Can't blame ya, ye had a lot of nasty stuff pumped into ya." Jack nods.

"Ugh, it hurts." 

"Imagine it does. Ya just sit tight an' get rest. Ya need it... though we won't be havin' ta worry 'bout that nasty sheila again. Took care of her meself." Jack smiles halfheartedly.

"Thanks." Bunny smiles a little.

"Think nothin' of it. We take care of our own after all. Shame we couldn't have done it sooner. She was one rotten boogie." Jack nods; his body hurts, his head feels like it's being squeezed to its limit.

"Ahh... darn it all." He squeeze his eyes shut, the pain just doesn't stop.

"Just get some sleep frostbite, it's gonna be a while before the pain of removing all that junk will fade." Jack just nods before falling back into a painful, restless sleep. Sandy sends good dreams Jack's way to try and help him rest; Jack sighs and finally sleeps in peace. The next day Jack wakes up to his check up by the nurse yetis.

"W-what's going on?" He asks drowsily, not quite awake yet.

"Just doing check ups. Did you sleep well?" Tooth asks, hovering nearby with Baby Tooth. Jack nods.

"Yeah... OUCH!" Baby Tooth took a blood sample from him; she chirps an apology as she zips about to help. Jack sighs.

"It's okay, just wasn't ready for that." Baby Tooth chirps that she'll make sure it doesn't hurt next time as she settles on his shoulder, the check up complete now.


	6. Loyal Love

Jack sighs.

"So, how is Mysterie and the kids?" 

"The kids are keeping both her and Jamie busy from what I understand. Could barely get in a decent few minutes to talk this morning." Jack nods.

"Okay then." He sighs, his body hurting suddenly.

"You look tired. Get some rest sweet tooth." Jack groans.

"But I just woke up." Tooth just smiles and flies out of the room with the yetis, Baby Tooth stays behind to keep Jack company. Jack sighs, feeling restless and knowing that Tooth, Mysterie or the yetis will kill him... he swings his legs over the bed, ignoring Baby Tooth's protests to stay in bed; He uses the bed for support along with the wall as he makes his way over to the window.

"Come on, I just wanna see outside." Baby Tooth follows, chiding him against doing more and reminding him what happened last time he did something he shouldn't have; which had left her stranded in Pitch's lair and had meant the destruction of Easter. Jack winces at that reminder even as he sort of spaces out. After a while, she gives up trying to talk to him and sits with him in silence; Jack watches the wind carry away his snowflakes as he hums for a bit. Baby Tooth keeps Jack company until he decides to nap again; but Jack doesn't nod off, staying at the window sill until Jamie and Mysterie come visit. Jamie is the first to visit after almost four days have passed, Jack had nodded off during that time and had fallen asleep on the floor; which is where Jamie finds him. He shakes his head and tucks Jack into the bed again; Jack nibbles on the blanket in his sleep, causing Jamie to chuckle a little. He settles down to see if Jack will wake up again before he needs to leave to go help Mysterie with the kids, who are currently all down for a nap. Jack wakes a minute later, having had a flashback from the attack; he screams, huffing as he looks around in fear.

"Easy Jack." Jamie murmurs softly and gently puts his hand on Jack's arm only for it to be slapped away; Jack's eyes are hazy from the flashback.

"I'M NO ONE'S TOOL! GET AWAY!" He cries.

"Jack, calm down. You're safe." Jamie murmurs, but he doesn't reach out for him physically again; instead sending a soothing and calming impression along the bond. Jack struggles a moment, they always tried to get him to sleep; he whines, his antlers having got caught up in the wiring and punctured the nutrients bag so now it drips to the floor. Jamie gently helps untangle him, murmuring soothingly as he does.

"It's okay Jack, I promise. You're okay." He grabs some nearby bandage tape and uses it to stop the leak in the nutrients bag. Jack breaths heavily, his eyes darting around before he finally focuses on Jamie.

"J-jamie..." He breathes out, trying to calm down.

 

 

"I'm here Jack. It's okay." He murmurs, Jack winces in pain when Jamie re-sticks the IV in; it makes him jump and he whines a little, shaking his head not able to focus on anything now but the pain.

"Easy now." Jamie murmurs as he rubs one of Jack's arms gently in an attempt to soothe him; Jack coughs, gasping for air and shakes like a leaf. Jamie does everything he can to calm Jack down; Jack groans, flinching as the flashback comes back full force; Jamie sighs a little at this and plunges into the flashback to try and pull him from it. Jack yells in pain in the flashback, having been electrocuted and had nanos put in him so he couldn't fight. Jamie winces at this; trying to extend his influence as Mysterie has taught him, to pull Jack from experiencing the flashback to just watching it happen like some sort of movie. Jack is shivering on the floor, crying and whining once the scientists have him under control; he isn't even there anymore as his eyes turn green and they control him. Flapping his wings, swishing his tails and using all his abilities in tests. Jamie tries to keep a lid on his anger as he tries again to pull Jack from the experience again. Jack whines as the scientists had tested him in slaughtering people on the island itself. Jamie continues to struggle to pull Jack's conscious mind to him, muttering under his breath.

 _"Come on Jack..."_ Jack screams, waking himself from the awful flashback; he shakes and cries.

"Jamie..." His throat is like glass and painful to listen to. Jamie hugs Jack close with a soft sigh, muttering to himself.

"Still not as good yet..." Jack shivers.

"How... I don't remember any of that... I don't remember none of that happening to me... I.. k-killed people..." Jamie sighs.

"I'm guessing memory suppression was among the things that stuff in your mind did to keep you under control." Jack whines.

"I k-killed people for experimentation... I'm a monster..." He looks at his hands and can only think of the blood covering them.

"You're not a monster Jack. You didn't even know what you were doing." Jack shudders.

"My mind shows it Jamie! I did know what I was doing! It was calculated and cold... and I am a monster!!" Jack pulls out the IV.

"I can't stay here! I can't!" He forces himself out the window and the wind carries him away. Jamie teleports after Jack; he wasn't going to let him simply get away, regardless of what he'd done, he wasn't letting him just disappear. Jack flies as fast as he possibly can, barely dodging Jamie's attempts to capture him.

"Jamie... I'm a monster, please... I don't want to end up hurting you too!" Jamie simply follows after a while, rather than trying to take him back to the pole; he doesn't say anything, how many times had he made this argument in the past with the same lack of result? What was the point of arguing since Jack obviously wasn't going to be talked out of it yet? Jack sniffs, his emotions flaring with the weather, causing people to get snowed in and children to get lost in the resulting snow storm as he flies past like a bullet. Jamie can't do anything to help, but Mysterie leads children to safety with her sand as does Sandy while Jamie continues to follow Jack. 

 

 

Jack finally makes it to the other side of the world, the south pole; he huffs, his energy slightly waning as he still feels pain. He drops to his knees, the wind howls and snow comes down hard as Jack coughs, shaking slightly as he is trying to relax at least a minute. Jamie lands next to him, saying nothing, but he gently lays a hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack jumps away, flying a little more before he has to use his staff as a crutch; Jamie follows after him. Jack feels that Jamie shouldn't even be near him and he sets up an indestructible wall to a cave he once lived in for a period of time; keeping Jamie from coming in but making a smaller shelter for him in the cold winds to take refuge in. Jamie makes the point that walls won't keep him out when, after a moment of studying it he manages to teleport to the other side. Jack whines and separates Jamie from him with another wall, shutting him out more and more. He sniffs.

"Just leave me alone, I'm only going to hurt you at some point or another." 

"You know I can't do that Jack. I vowed to take care of you for eternity and no matter what that means I'm going to honor that vow." Jack shudders, blocking him out more and more; eventually kicking him out all together and rocks fall into place of the cave and a magical barrier keeps Jamie from teleporting back in.

 _"Do what you feel like. I'm not leaving and there isn't any force on this planet that can make me."_ He says over the bond stubbornly. Jack huffs, leaving through the back end of the cave and leaving the area entirely as he tries to shake Jamie off his tail some how. Jamie still follows him, the bond makes it easy, but even if Jack did block the bond he'd still be able to follow him... it was some sixth sense he's always had in terms of Jack since the day the two of them had met. Jack whines, trying to find a way that Jamie can't follow him... So he ties him to a tree in vines and thick rope, ice and every other element he can before flying away and blocking the bond completely. Jamie manages to escape, with a little help from some local spirits, and catches up to Jack again; even without the bond. Jack has no choice... feels that he has no choice. He lashes out.

"Jamie I'm warning you... just go home ok!" Jack holds an energy whip of electricity in his hands, his antlers appear along with his tails that swish irritably; his wings arch in protection.

"Please, go home." Tears of pure energy fall from him. Jamie just crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow.

"Just what makes you think what you're going to do that could possibly drive me away? Face it Jack, short of killing me I ain't leaving." Jack sniffs; his mind can't take it.... fried to a point even he doesn't expect it to happen.

"Then die if you care so much." Jack shakes his head.

"Jamie, I-" Jack feels the need to kill so badly; he has to get Jamie away... the energy whips around Jamie and slams him into a nearby bus, through the window. He then takes off faster than Jamie can catch up to him, making it foggy to make it impossible for Jamie to find him immediately. He wanted to be anywhere but there. Jamie winces from being slammed into the bus, it hurt, but he'd stick to his word and it does take him a while to find Jack again; though the fog doesn't impede him or make it impossible for him to track Jack. He doesn't know how he knows where to find Jack is, it is something that seems to defy even the logic of the spirit world in terms of bonds. Jack sniffs, now hiding in the Tower of Piza. He gasps for air as he's used up all the energy he has and collapses to the floor.


	7. A Gift of Sorts

Jack gasps for air, shaking as the power leaves him and he smokes slightly as the fox fire in his fox tail is forced back into him and his other elemental appendages receded as well for healing. Jamie sits down a couple feet away, Jack coughs up blood before he goes completely unconscious from the pain; Jamie sighs a little and moves over to Jack, taking him to the ice house and tucks him into the bed with the silver covers. Jack groans, waking up.

"Noo..." He whines, but he has no energy. Jamie relaxes on the couch in the living room as Jack wakes, groaning as his body throbs and quakes in pain; he coughs up a bit of blood again. Shuddering, he pulls the covers away, screaming as his skin looks like it's covered in symbols that burn and are etched into his skin. Jamie moves into the room at the sound of the scream; he seems thoughtful at the symbols though he lightly touches Jack's shoulder, sending a cooling sensation along his skin. Jack groans a little.

"What h-happened? What are th-those?" The symbols glow with his magic, healing him, but also keeping the power just beneath his skin.

"Ancient runes." Jack hugs himself.

"Why are they on my body? Why?"

"The power of the elements is as old as time itself Jack. You've pushed yourself pretty hard recently, it was only a matter of time likely that they would show an attempt to keep you from destroying yourself." Jack coughs.

"What does that mean?" He groans a little as the runes glow with pain, extracting some of his power to keep him from even thinking of using it to escape the room. Jamie sighs.

"Just what I said. It's a theory I've discussed with Mysterie while she was teaching me one night about the dream plane. According to what she has found in the dream plane, and among many of the stories that exist about the earth itself, the stories of the elements starts even at the very beginning of mankind being here. Which means they were here BEFORE man was. She's talked to Sandy, who doesn't know anymore than she does really about them, but he has given proof that the elements began once as a single entity. That, in the beginning, was only Darkness and Light and from the two came a third element that was a mix of the two. That element was called Spirit. Wishing to create, as it had been created, the element of Spirit created the four elements; air, water, earth and fire. In turn, they created the sub-elements that exist; like wood and metal." Jack turns his head.

"So, what does this have to do with these in my skin?" He groans as it hurts a little each time he fights back the power it is taking from him.

"I wish I could tell you. I don't know enough. That'd be a question for Mysterie... and she's minding the kiddos." Jack groans and swings his legs over the bed.

"Well I'm not staying around here." The runes glow and a barrier appears in front of Jack, keeping him in the bed.

 

 

"WHAT THE HELL!!!"

"I think they call that rebellion... Mysterie did suggest that the elements were sentient... in a way. Seems like they're pretty persistent in keeping you in that bed. Likely to rest if nothing else." Jack growls.

"No runes gonna keep me in bed." Jack forcefully dissipates the barrier only to be put in chains of pure energy, the sound of metal carving into chains resounded in the room before clicking and locking.

"OW!" Jack hisses in pain.

"The more you fight 'em the more it's gonna hurt Jack." Jack groans.

"I won't let this stop me damn it." The clamps tighten as they strengthen their hold on him; Jack groans.  _What happened?_ He thought he was in control of his own powers, that was the first thing that Jamie heard from the bond as Jack cries out as they strengthen yet again. Jamie sighs.

"I told you Jack; the elements are sentient. Don't you remember seeing them take form when they first appeared in you? They took animal forms. Limitations on their true forms at the time, true, but they THINK and at the moment they believe you've over done yourself and they're not listening because of it." Jack groans and coughs.

"Damn it all." The bonds tighten again, making Jack whine as it's painful.

"It hurts... it really hurts."

"I did say to stop fighting did I not?" Jack whines, the pain is so bad that the wings sprout outwards and wrap around him; sending soothing feelings through him though he fights against it. Eventually his body wins over though, he cries as he doesn't want to sleep; Jamie reassures Jack over the bond that it's okay. That there's nothing wrong and he should quit fighting it and sleep for a little while. Jack whines before he can't keep his eyes open any longer; he glows a minute as sleep power sinks into him and his wings recede into him as well as the rest of his appendages; the runes stay but dissipate the cuffs as now he's asleep. Jamie nods thoughtfully at that, sighing a little.

"You really need to not fight these Jack." He mutters. The runes become their spirit animal forms, shaking a bit as it took a lot of power to take Jack down. The four growl, but the fox speaks.

"This is bad for him, he needs to stop fighting us constantly or his core could go kaplooy and you'll get a crazy monster murderer." 

"I wouldn't say I agree with that, considering that there's still the play of the other element that has kept him mostly stable until now... I think Mysterie is close to learning to use that element... which would allow her to keep him in check I think..." Jamie says thoughtfully.

"He has always been stubborn so it's not really a surprise he fights you like he does nearly everything else." They sigh.

 

 

"Well, if he gets out of hand there is a specific command in the runes to calm him almost immediately and he won't be able to do a thing about it." the fox nips Jamie's fingers, only hard enough to draw a bit of blood.

"Blood is strong, if you bind yourself to his energy core you could be able to use the command; doing so though will mean sharing the power you have with him which is why you only use it once." 

"Once... as in period?" Jamie asks, barely noticing the nip since he's numbed himself from the pain of being slammed into that bus earlier.

"No, you can use it as much as you like; there is no limit to the command, just I recommend you use it once since it takes your power to do the command." Jack groans.

"Welp, time to test that later. If you want to bind, just press two fingers to a cut on Jack's arm and the blood will mingle; binding you to his core."  

"Just wanted to make sure. Magic can be so specific at times... That one spell I did before was extremely. Appreciate the assistance. I'll do what I can... but no promises. You know how he is." Jamie gently presses the bleeding finger to a small cut, like the fox had indicated, before Jack fully wakes up. Jack groans, waking up.

"Jamie... what the?" He realizes he's no longer bonded.

"Damn it! I hate this!!" Jack growls, sitting up; over the binding Jamie can sense the power that Jack has and it's immense. Jamie seems thoughtful at the sense of power... it is different from his own... Vastly, but it is a lot like the power Jamie wields only temporarily when he controls others as the Puppetmaster... but not quite the same as that... Could the power he touched be...? He shakes the thought aside.

"Yes, I'm aware of it Jack and so are they." Jack groans and swings his legs over the edge of the bed. He really doesn't want to stay; the fox's voice flitters along the bond.

 _"Try the command, it's whatever you want the name to be."_  

 _"Hmmm... that's a tough one. Can't use something that would be too common or I might accidentally trigger it.... um..."_ Jamie thinks a long moment, trying to figure out a word; then he nods a little when he finally finds a word that will work, considering it wouldn't be one he'd normally use; he looks at Jack as he focuses on the command itself, speaking the word that has come to his mind.

"Taira." Instantly Jack's body goes rigid as he glows a blue.

"Wh-why do I feel so tired...?" Jack fights the drowsy calmness before collapsing in the bed, an energy transfer to Jamie occurs so he doesn't lose too much power.


	8. Boys and Snow

"Whoa... that packs a wallop..." Jamie murmurs, sitting down.

"I can see why I wouldn't want to use it too often." The fox snickers.

 _"Yep, which is why only at the most dangerous and painful of times should you use it."_ Jamie nods.

"It's not a word I use often, not even in English... so I don't think that will be a problem." If the fox was in its physical form, Jamie would have seen a sly smile on its face; Jack squirms in his dreams as he had previously been forced asleep. He wakes up an hour later, groaning as his body had power taken from it to help sustain Jamie a little. Jamie shakes his head; he wasn't going to use that power often. It took too much out of him, and what the heck? What sort of dream would cause Jack to twitch like that? Jamie is still considering it, sitting cross-legged on the floor an hour later. Jack huffs, feeling like his body is twitching more than necessary as he holds his middle.

"J-jamie, do you have..." He holds a hand to his mouth.

"A trash bag, please quick!" He looks like he's about to be sick. Jamie nods and grabs a small trash bin; Jack throws up straight into the bin; tossing up acid, some odd glowing stuff and a nano that the yetis had missed. Jamie winces a little, getting Jack a glass of water; he drinks the water slowly.

"Feel better?" Jamie asks once Jack's finished the glass. Jack nods.

"Much better." 

"Want any more water?" Jack shakes his head.

"I'm good." He looks around.

"I hope Mysterie's not having any trouble with the kids." Unfortunately Jack's hope wasn't the truth as the nursery was a mess, Luke and Randy were yelling, the babies are crying in her arms and there was marker on her forehead. Of course Randy is crying because Luke was yelling; Mysterie sighs a little but eventually manages to calm the twins after changing them both using her sand. She feeds them and uses her sand to entertain them with a sand story about about Jack before they fall asleep. The twins are a handful, but at least the other two are mellow and don't cause any trouble; though they had helped make a bit of a mess of the room by getting into the crayons and scribbling on the floor. Mysterie cleans up the mess once they are all down for a nap again. 

"Anyways, what are we to do now?" Jack asks after a sigh.

"I don't know what you mean about us, but I know you need to finish getting your rest." Jack turns over, feeling more than trapped but also bored; he groans.

 

 

"I don't wanna sleep though."

"I don't think they'll force you to sleep if you're not tired. So, perhaps you want to do something low key?" Jack nods.

"Anything to end the boredom."

"Hmmm... be right back." Jamie disappears a moment, when he comes back he has a deck of cards. Jack huffs slightly in pain as he is trying to think of a way to beat Jamie at Kings in the Corner. Jamie seems content to play as the game is mostly about luck of the draw and strategy. Jack's eyes flicker up, seeing Jamie concentrating. Jamie looks at the cards before shaking his head; he can't play a card this turn.

"Pass." Jack picks another card, slowly it comes down to him having two cards. Jamie waits to see what will happen as he has three cards in his hands now. Jack set down a pair of aces, which were the last of his cards.

"Looks like you got me this time. Told you ya could." Jamie says with a smile, causing Jack to smile.

"I did." He feels drowsy suddenly.

"Jamie..." Jack feels a warmth encircle him as does Jamie; it was both warm and calming.

"You might want to get some sleep." Jamie says, frowning thoughtfully as he feels the calming effects, but it is a distant feeling... looks like the elements are trying to get Jack to sleep more. Jack groans, fighting them slowly as it becomes a fight to stay awake and the elements are too weak to overpower him this time.

"Jack. You really shouldn't do that." Jack whines.

"I don't want to sleep. I don't - zzzz..." Jamie chuckles softly and tucks Jack in. A week later finds Jack back to normal once more.

"Think you're up for visiting the munchkins?" Jack nods.

"Yes, I want to see them." 

"Let's go then." Jamie smiles a little, heading out back towards the castle; said munchkins are playing with their cars in the living room while the other two are down for a nap. Jack smiles as he follows Jamie back to the castle and to the nursery.

 

 

Mysterie smiles when she sees them both.

"Look children, your daddies are home." Luke and Randy gurgle happily, getting up and toddling over to them both. Jack smiles and picked up Luke while Randy is picked up by Jamie.

"How are my little squirts?" Mysterie smiles.

"Handfuls as always." Luke grins.

"Dada! Han'ful!" Randy giggles, clapping his hands.

"Papa! Wee!" Jack chuckles.

"Yes I am and you should probably listen to mommy more." Mysterie moves over to Jack, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"I'm just glad you're alright now." Jack sets Luke down to hug and kiss her while the boys both cry out.

"Ewe! Gross!!" Mysterie chuckles as does Jamie. Jack giggles.

"Oh no! Here comes the tickle monster!!" The boys run but Jack is too fast for them and he tickles the little joys to death. Mysterie chuckles a little, watching a moment before murmuring to Jamie that she is going to take a nap and she goes to a nearby bedroom to lay down. Jack slowly teaches the boys how to make snow angels after making a small amount of snow in the room. Randy eagerly makes a snow angel, but accidentally ruins his while Luke seem most interested in the snow itself. Jack smiles at the two.

"It's alright, try again." Randy giggles, seeming more interested in building a snowball than trying again and seeing this makes Jamie chuckle a little. Jack smiles.

"Just like me."  Randy giggles as he rolls another snowball, they float around him, but he doesn't seem to notice as he makes another.

"Uh oh... you've got some competition there Jack." Jack giggles.

"Soon he'll be throwing snow." 

"Yeah... and guess who will be the first targets." Jack gasps.

"He'll have to catch me first then." Jamie chuckles a little.


	9. Something Afoot

Jack smiles and starts making snow forts; Randy claps as he watches Jack. Luke picks up one of his brother's snowballs and tosses the thing at Randy, making him yelp and then start to cry.

"Hey, no throwing things." Jack picks up Randy.

"Hey, hey... don't cry. Look, snowball fun." He gently plops one on his own head. Luke pouts cutely while Randy sniffles at Jack and Jamie shakes his head at Luke.

"You know better Luke, you don't get to throw things at your brother." Jack hugs Randy and teaches him how to design snowflakes; Randy giggles while Luke plays in the snow fort. Jack chuckles, making more things for them to play with; even snow animals that move. Luke chases a snow teddy while Randy giggles happily at a snow bunny, making Jack smile. Jamie smiles as Noah and Brianna sit up, yawning and rubbing their eyes. Jack was having fun when what feels like electricity shoots up through his system and his eyes brighten. Randy looks at Jack strangely.

"Papa?" Jamie looks over at Jack.

"Jack? You okay?" He's noticed the strange feeling and it concerns him a little. Jack breathes a little heavily, feeling like his heart is about to burst; Mysterie comes into the room, a thoughtful look on her face. She gently probes Jack tot try and find out what the deal is as she'd felt that odd sensation as well. It lashes out hotly at her, trying to fry her end of the bond and Jack hisses between his teeth. Mysterie frowns a little at that.

"Well then... I guess now is better than never to try something that I have been reading about." She settles down, closing her eyes while Jamie watches, a little scared to try anything himself. Jack shivers, it's like bolts of electricity are going through his body and it hurts. Mysterie finds the source easily enough and suddenly it is teleported out of Jack; it clangs into the trash while she slumps from the used of the power it takes to access the element of spirit... 

"I think.. I'll need... a nap..." She passes out where she's at. Jack worries for her as he sits by her, breathing heavily even as the electrical energy leaves his body. Jamie puts a hand on his shoulder.

"She'll be okay... but that sort of element takes a lot out of you... I should know." Jack nods.

"Yeah." He thinks for a minute, how and why had that just happened?

"What do you think that was?" Jamie asks as he looks in the trashcan to see a small hunk of metal. Jack doesn't reply as he shivers, feeling drained now more than ever as Randy walks over to him.

"Papa?" Mysterie is out cold for about an hour. Brianna and Noah cry to be let out of their cribs; Jamie lifts out Brianna who crawls over to Mysterie.

 

 

"Mama." Jack groans.

"Hey Brianna, mama's just tired okay? How about we have lunch?"

"Mama nap?" Brianna asks.

"Yes sweetling." Jamie replies as he gets a bottle for her and she holds it on her own; meanwhile Jack is trying to figure out how that hunk of metal was in him.

"I wonder... maybe there was something besides the nanos she deactivated?" He says, thinking aloud as he gives the boys their bottles as well. Jack groans at that.

"Y-you're telling me. My body feels like it was an electrical current and I got fried." Jamie winces at that.

"Definitely sounds like a 'gift' from the late 'doctor' to me." 

"Late? What do you mean late?" Jack looks at Jamie, confused.

"Wait... he didn't tell you? Er... I guess he wouldn't want to... it was kind of brutal..." Jamie finishes his sentence over the bond so not to scar the children.

 _"Bunny is a shapeshifter... he... ate them... The people in the complex. No living creature in that compound made it out alive by the time he and Tooth were done."_ Jack gasps.

"No, he never told me." Jack shudders, feeling the familiar feeling of having no control and his eyes flash a green momentarily. He had been holding Luke just then but now he set him down.

"Jamie... I'm gonna need you to knock me out. Like right now." Jack shudders, feeling as if his body is about to burst. Jamie nods, wondering what is wrong but doesn't question it.

"Taira." Jack shudders, freezing and the green flashing in his eyes fades; he gasps before collapsing, making the children cry in fear and worry. Brianna, Randy, Luke and Noah toddle over to Jack.

"Dada."

"Meewawa."

 

 

"Papa! WAKE UP!!" Luke shakes him, only Noah is silent.

"Easy now munchkins. He'll be fine." Jamie hopes. Jack shudders, his wings popped out suddenly throwing the kids sky high; Luke only claps as he's launched.

"WEEE!!" Jamie catches each of them as they come back down in the order they went up. Luke giggles.

"AGAIN!" Jack turns for no real reason, the elements parts coming through; his tails swishing painfully, wings already flared out and flapping in a protective way.

"No Luke, not doing that again... not like that." Jamie doesn't like the looks of this... what is going on? Jack is like that for about five minutes or so before reverting to himself again, his body glowing slightly.

"Please stop..." Jack whines, crying slightly in his sleep; it worries the kids.

"DADA!" They yell in unison.

"Easy, he's just sleeping." Jamie picks Jack up and takes Jack to another room so he'll stop worrying the kids though he's pretty worried himself. Something isn't quite right... but he's not sure what. He goes back to the children to see if Mysterie's awake; she finally is now and she has a major headache.

"Mysterie... can you watch the kids for a minute?" She nods, wondering what's up but not asking aloud. She entertains the kids with her sand; Jack groans, fighting the calls... the whispers to destroy... to let out his animal side... Jack shakes, crying for it to go away; eventually it does, but with a message.

 **"Your mind is mine Jack. Accept what I am giving you now and you won't suffer."** Jamie comes in, sensing something but he isn't sure what. He settles on the edge of the bed and slips into Jack's mind; oddly surprised that he doesn't feel as tired as he had the first time that he'd used that command... what was going on? Jack is curled up on the bed, whining and crying as a green glow surrounds his body. Jamie moves over to Jack, frowning; why would he glow green in his own mind?

"Jack? What's going on?" Jack shudders, he can't remember... that is one thing he can't do.

"I-i... don't remember." His eyes have an emerald tint to them now as the green mist dives into him. He winces.

"All I remember is going to sleep and nothing else." Jack cries as the runes on his body try to cast out what is invading him only to be pulled into control.


	10. Another

"Hmmm... well, I don't like the looks of this... It feels... foreign. I am not even sure I can explain how I know this... I just... sense it." Jamie looks around as if expecting to see something... There was nothing though, Jack only feels pain; wincing and twitching every now and then; the green glow now more pronounced and bright in his eyes.

 _Jack._ That voice... Jack is sure he's heard it before, but he can't remember and he shivers.

"Jamie, get out. Please, get out of my head now." Jack feels like he is about to attack him for no reason; that he isn't in control of his mind or body at all.

"There's someone here..." Jamie doesn't listen to what Jack says. Instead he moves about, circling Jack; eyes alert... something feels... he isn't sure what it feels like... it is almost... familiar? Jack growls at Jamie, snarling, about to bite him. Jamie looks around, not really seeming to pay much attention to Jack but at the same time he is... This feeling is familiar... but the source of it is... something... weaker? That doesn't make any sense at all, but he sends out a bit of his own power in a circle... a sort of warning to the ... source that it shouldn't be meddling. It is as if it isn't even there; it covers its sources, basically knowing what will happen and squeezes Jack's mind into seeing an enemy instead of Jamie. Jack snarls, tackling him and hitting him with a right hock, followed by a left upper cut and other random punches.

"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GET OUT!!" Jamie is more prepared for that trick than the source might think; after a few blows 'Jamie' explodes into sand, the real one standing opposite of Jack; he's been just watching the whole time.

"Nice try... You'll have to do better." By this time, there is a purple tint to his gaze; he crosses his arms. So this thing wants to play does it? Jack snarls, eyes glowing more green, a green mist juts out into crystal wings on his back as he snarls, growling at him and tackling him; taking him down this time with a knife in his stomach. Jack twists it deeply, murder in his green eyes.

"Die die die!" Jamie clicks his tongue, taking the knife away.

"Now now, that won't work on me. I was taught by a master of this place." Jamie snaps the knife and gently pushes Jack back.

"You want to play mind games though... you're out of your league." Jack snarls, blood starting to drip from his nose as the zaps to his mind hurt; he throws a few ice daggers; sweeping Jamie off his feet again and using an electrical current to try and render his senses useless. He snickers, kicking him and slamming him around like some sort of rag doll. Jamie simply waits until it stops, then he gets up and raises an eyebrow at Jack.

"Are you done yet? I didn't feel any of that. Though that was different." Jack groans, feeling dizzy as the source is losing its control over him.

"Jamie..." He collapses and Jamie is forced out of his head, the same changes that had happened to him in his mind had also happened to his physical body. Jamie notices the changes, but he doesn't say anything.  Jack wakes an hour later in both physical and mental pain.

"Huh.. JAMIE!" Jack jumps up, worry sinking into his heart that he had hurt Jamie or worse... the children. Jamie's settled on the edge of the bed in thought, having withdrawn as he's felt the influence leave completely; Jack shudders, grabbing his arm gently as if he fears Jamie will break.

 

 

"J-jamie...." His voice sounds small and far away, as if he fears he can kill him with just his voice. Jamie glances over at Jack, slipping one arm around him.

"Hmmm?" Jack winces.

"D-did I... d-did I hurt you?" He asks, shivering as the wings fold into him painfully, as they were crystal now because of the bastard who had controlled him. Jack bit his lip to keep from screaming, his grip tightening on Jamie's arm as the last bit of the wing forces its way back into his flesh.

"No. I've been practicing. Granted he likely wanted you to, but I've finally mastered enough control to not be affected on that plane. Not by someone that weak anyway." Jack whines.

"Why is it always me?" Jack sniffs, he is tired of it all; all this pain, the forced control over him... it's taking its toll.

"Jamie, I'm giving myself up. It's the only way for it to end 'cause I can't take it anymore." 

"I can't let you do that Jack, for many reasons; five of which are in the next room." Jack groans.

"Jamie I can't let them suffer, so just let me go." He pleads, hoping that Jamie will understand what he's trying to do; he whines.

"Especially you. So starting tomorrow I'm going to find the source and stay there. Take care of Mysterie and the kids ok?" Jamie frowns at that.

"And what makes you think I'd ever allow it? Do you honestly think they'd be safe with someone else controlling you? What makes you think they wouldn't just come after the kids? And if they do... do you honestly think I could save them? I might buy them some time in an ideal situation... but the truth is the truth. There aren't a lot of spirits who could stand up to the power you have and survive. Like it or not, that's the worst thing you could do." Jack winces at each word. 

"If I do what he says, he won't even think of going after you guys." Jack closes his eyes, tears falling.

"My answer is final. I'm giving myself up to the source and that's that Jamie." 

"Yeah... I doubt that. Besides... I'm territorial and you are everything to me. I'm not letting you go without a fight." Jack growls.

"Then the fight will begin tomorrow Bennett 'cause when I leave, I leave." Jack got in Jamie's face, eyes narrowing and the hostility in him showing through. Jamie narrows his eyes slightly.

"So be it." Jack turns over.

 

 

"Better have your guards up then 'cause tomorrow I'm leaving." Jack goes to sleep, night is only so long. The sun comes up the next day to find Jamie fast asleep. Jack opens the window, using a spell to dissipate any barriers or magic and he flies out to follow the source's directions. Jamie has been awake all night, but not in his body; he knows that he is going to take the fight straight to the source. Mysterie had talked to him all last night about it, about what he should do and the best way to deal with what she believed to be a telekinetic. So he'd done as she said... biding his time in the shadows of Jack's mind... waiting to strike. Jack coughs, feeling something is off.

"Jamie if you're in my head get out." Jack attempts to force him out strongly; closing off the bond and any access he might have to his mind. Jamie dodges the attempt to be lodged out. Jack might not like it... but Mysterie had unwittingly given him the tools he needed to take complete control if he ever want to. He merely found a different shadow to hide in. He's convinced Jackson and the others to help him hide for Jack's sake. He doesn't need the bond to use his power, but he'd be lying if he said it didn't hurt to be cut off. Jack whines.

"Get out of my head! Get out!" Jack shakes Jamie about like some toy, trying to get him out; he can't go to the source with Jamie in his head. He flew slowly, ever slowly to the source; everything grows hazy and green mist surrounds him. 

"I-if I give myself to you do you promise to leave my family alone?" Jack asks. The voice returns, smiling.

 **"You came, and yes. A deal is a deal after all. Come, come let me show you your new home and place of training."** A man in a robed mask comes out, his cloak is black and blue, he holds a clipboard and looks to be 14. Jack gulps. Jamie grins a little, just as he'd hoped... but a 14 year old looking spirit? Well, that was different. In the next instant Jamie extorted his power... He hated to do things this way but Mysterie had insisted that this was likely the only way this was going to be resolved. Jack finds that he isn't in control anymore... Jamie is, his eyes a dark purple that rival the comm he carried. He speaks through Jack.

"So... you're the little upstart are you?" The 14 continues writing on his clipboard.

"Yes. Mr. Jamie is it? I've been watching you guys for months now and found Jack compatible to my army so..." He attempts to squeeze Jamie's brain to render him useless in Jack's body.

"Which is why he has to under go some tests." Meanwhile, Jack is screaming at Jamie.

"JAMIE STOP! GET OUT OF ME!!" He fight Jamie with all he has but Jamie just ignores Jack; shrugging off the other's "squeeze" or attempt to.

"Sorry to burst your bubble there... but Jack belongs to me. By the way... your mind tricks don't work on me. After all... why would someone like me be susceptible to a worm like you? Your telekinesis is useless against the power I hold." He snickers.

"Yeah, I suppose so, but nothing like a little wear and tear on the body to make you lose your grip huh?" With that needle is lodge in Jack's neck; rendering him unconscious. 


	11. Billy

"Which is why I have these." The injection not only knocked Jack out but sent nanos into Jack's system to tighten its grip on Jack's body. Jack tackles Jamie in his mind.

"YOU BASTARD! I SHOULD KILL YOU RIGHT NOW! I SAID STAY! I MEANT STAY!!!" Jack roars, his body heaving with unbridled rage. Jamie pushes Jack off of him; his eyes darkening and the nanos in Jack suddenly malfunction as Jamie extorts his the power he has... power he has only reached for one other time. He isn't affected directly because he is using one of the most powerful elements in existence and thus wasn't trapped as the other might have hoped. It is beginning to show as his aura pulses around him and Jack's body stands up, a purple tint to the icy blue eyes now.

"You really don't know what you're doing, do you? You think you can subdue one of the most powerful forces on earth with something so primitive as the elements of light and metal?" He laughs and Jack blasts the figure with ice.

"You are nothing but a child in comparison." The figure turns out to be just a dummy.

"Oh tsk tsk, really Jamie. There are other ways than just mind games." Jack is pissed, but slightly not unhappy about what Jamie is doing, but still pissed he is doing this. An elemental block is separating him from Jamie.

"GUYS STOP!" He growls. The elements shake their heads.

"No Jack, Jamie's right; you need to stop thinking about others before yourself first and think about Jamie, Mysterie and the kids." Jack groans.

"LET ME OUT!!" He pounds angrily against the elements.

"Mind games? Oh come now... if you know so much about me you'd realize I don't play with the mind... and I certainly don't play games... You talk a good game. I'll give you that, but you can't back it up. You try to hide behind these useless dolls... but you have no real power. You don't KNOW what real power is." Jack absently indicates the frozen "doll." Jack growls at Jamie.

"Jamie I'm warning you... Get out now." Jack has had it with Jamie and the control he has over him; he pushes and pushes against Jamie, managing to regain control. He flies off the island.

"DAMN IT GET OUT!!" That was the last straw and he forces the kid out, causing him pain; the kid merely observes from afar via a dog now that follows close behind as ordered; not a scent or trace of a problem with a dog can be detected as he flies back to the castle, quite angry with Jamie. Seeing his comatose body he kicks him twice as hard in the jewels. Jamie retreats in terms of control, but there was no way Jack can push him out entirely if he doesn't want to go; not with the power he is using now. The element of spirit isn't one that can simply be shrugged off or fought off using any of the other elements. The wards keep the dog from following Jack to the castle, as they are set to keep even the tiniest of organisms away; Jamie doesn't return to his body though, it would be very painful when he does return to it. For the time being, Jamie is biding his time in the depths of darkness. Searching the shadows of the world for the actual spirit while he resides in the shadows of Jack's mind. It is considered dark magic to mess with shadows, but Jamie isn't concerned with that at the moment. For the time being, he's become the Puppetmaster... Jack growls angrily, whining.

 

 

"Get out, please... I mean it." Jack fights him as hard as possible, becoming desperate, the elements even growl at the dark magic.

"Stop doing that, its not right." Jack snarls angrily, kicking Jamie yet again in the jewels.

"Sorry you four... but sometimes things we don't like must be done. It's just a tool after all. One thing I've learned about tools, it's the wielder that makes it dark, not the tool itself." Puppetmaster says, addressing the elements but otherwise ignoring Jack's protests. Jack is beyond angry now and he knew the other could feel faintly every bit of pain that he is now inflicting on poor Jamie's body. Being detached from his body, Jamie doesn't really feel it; hardly even paying attention to Jack's little fit as it is. He is too distracted looking for the spirit at the moment who is somewhere in Acapulco. Jack groans, feeling faint as he feels the bastard trying to connect again.

 **"Why do you insist on meddling Mr. Puppet... or Bennett, whichever they call you?"** Jack shakes his head, feeling the green mist soaking into him again, he says across the bond.

_"Mysterie get out of the house, now; take the kids."_

"I could ask you the same thing." Jamie replies with indifference, easily wrestling control from the other without much problem. Mysterie huddles with the kids in the nursery. It is the safest place for them at the moment because she knows good and well there is really no where she can take them that will be safer. Jack whines, just having Jamie in his mind along with the other is hurting him.

"GET OUT BOTH OF YOU!!" The other chuckles.

 **"What's the matter Jack? I mean, we're only talking and I'm trying to open your eyes to the right side."** Puppetmaster snorts at that.

"You call being a puppet to do nothing but what YOU desire being the RIGHT side? What rock have you been living under? I suppose being on that island is enough to rattle anyone's brains... Oh yes... I know EXACTLY where you are now." The other smiles.

 **"Fine, come and get me then. I guess I'll just have to welcome you to the little games we'll have."** Jack shakes his head, rattling Puppetmaster about like a doll for the moment, not letting him even claim control.

"I mean it! Get the hell out!" Puppetmaster gently shoves Jack into the four elements.

"Sit tight." He takes control again and heads off for the island. Jack screams in anger as finally the elements keep him unconscious.

"That took all the energy we had to put him out Puppetmaster." The wolf says. The island is a death trap, many wolves, bugs and snakes attack; all under the control of the 14 year old. Puppetmaster waves away the concern of the elements, extending his power and releasing everything that comes at Jack from the "boy's" power by exerting his own. Those that still attempt to attack end up fighting one another instead through the power of illusion. Allowing him to slip through every living trap without a scratch.

 

 

Jamie doesn't notice the net that numbs Jack's powers to the point that even Jack can't use them. Jack whines in his sleep.

"Jamie..." Puppetmaster isn't concerned with the net though after a while he notices it; the four elements were susceptible to it, but not his. It doesn't matter, this isn't going to be a fight between this boy and Jack... it is between Jamie and this boy... The boy is leaning back in a hammock, waiting for Puppetmaster's arrival; he doesn't have to wait too much longer.

"Can't say I call this a meeting, but you insist on this. So let's get this over with. I have more important things to do." The boy smiles.

"Just sit and relax. I'm not really evil per say, but the only reason I want to have Jack is more of a big brother and revenge on the Guardians for killing sister!" His green eyes flash in anger beneath stark white hair that curls slightly around his face; Jack howls in pain as it squeezes his mind to its limits.

"Well, I just wanted to talk to Jack mostly, since you insist in getting in the way...." The boy lands in Jack's mind next to Puppetmaster.

"Why don't we just fight man to man... or more like man to 14 year old, by the way my name's Billy."

"Never said you were evil, though your sister definitely was; can't really help you with the whole revenge thing, I happen to be a Guardian too. Just be thankful it isn't Mysterie interfering... you see... she tends to torture her targets before she gets rid of them." He comments as the boy, Billy, appears.

"Fight? You must be joking. What makes you think you stand a chance?" Puppetmaster just stares at him, leaning against a tree like he isn't doing a thing. Billy smiles.

"Come on, don't you like to have fun once in a while?" He leans on the other side of the same tree.

"I'll just have to kill you when I get the chance then." He slams Puppetmaster into the ground with a brick wall formed from his hands, a sword runs through his stomach before he electrocutes him. Puppetmaster raises an eyebrow at the attempts, pulling out the sword.

"You're out of your league kid... but if you insist." He slams the sword into Billy without hesitation, but instead of electrocution, the sword bursts into flames. He jumps back onto a wall, smiling.

"Oooh, you are so much fun!" He jumps down again, sweeping Puppetmaster off his feet; Puppetmaster simply stands up and looks at Billy, seeming bored.

"Not really. This is ridiculous kid." He picks up Billy and simply tosses him out of Jack without too much fuss. Billy giggles, he is just a sad, lonely kid that misses his sister and wanting a friend.

"Why can't we all get along?" Jack whines.

"Jamie, please stop." 


	12. A New Friend

"You didn't actually try to get along. Taking control of someone else for your own amusement or gain is NOT getting along." Puppetmaster replies, ignoring Jack. Billy smiles.

"I was only messing those times. I don't know how my powers work sometimes, I only controlled those animals 'cause people's minds are so interesting and Jack would be a great friend." He sniffs.

"Try being an actual friend then. Jack has responsibilities. You can't invade someone like this and not expect there to be consequences. I'll probably have my own problems as it is for doing this just to get you out." Billy whines.

"But no one's ever really wanted to be my friend." Jack wakes up coughing and groaning.

"Jamie..." Puppetmaster sighs.

"If you keep trying to control or experiment on them why would they? You don't make friends by controlling anyone. You make friends by being a friend. I think I know someone who might help you with that problem. I'll send the boy your way. In the mean time... I've got other things to do." Billy nods and lets go of Jack and the animals around him.

"Okay. I just miss my sister. She was the only one who would talk to me before they brainwashed her." 

"It's natural that you should. You just need to make some friends... and not blame the Guardians for what they did. Brainwashed or not, she was a menace as an adult; you don't want to know what sort of things she truly got up to. In the mean time, I've sent a message to the boy, he should be here soon enough to speak with you." Puppetmaster relinquishes control on Jack; he feels woozy and collapses right there while the elements try to carry Jack back to the castle. Jamie returns to his body, but he doesn't move... though as much because he can't at the moment as because he doesn't really want to. Jack coughs, feeling so much freer than before as he reaches the castle.

"J-jamie." Mysterie appears to help Jack back into the castle, having settled all the kiddos down for a nap. Jack feels pain well up in him as the bond that he shares also makes Jack feel the pain and he gasps, dropping and crying. Jack gasps, sucking in air.

"IT HURTS!!" Jack cries.

"MY WEE WEE! WHY ME!!" Mysterie winces, she can sense Jamie cringing now and does what she can to momentarily sever the bond.

"Really Jack... was that honestly necessary?" Jack groans.

"Yes, it was; it was worth every kick. H-he deserved it, controlling my body is an absolute NO NO!" Jack screams even as he feels guilty but he knows Jamie is aching in as much pain if not more.

 

 

"You didn't exactly give him a choice you know." Mysterie says, sighing a little; taking Jack to his room. He groans.

"Doesn't matter, I was doing what was best for you and the kids!" Jack snarls, his anger red hot again, but he only feels more pain now because of it. She sighs again.

"Hardly that. Self sacrifice to the hands of someone else isn't a good idea. Ever." Jack growls.

"You and Jamie will never understand." She sighs.

"Jack, I think Jamie understands better than you think. Don't you remember he almost let you forget all about him because you BOTH thought it was for the best?" Jack nods.

"I g-guess you're right." 

"Besides, with great power comes great responsibility Jack... and it's our responsibility to help you in any way we can; no matter what that might mean for us." Jack growls, hating the thought but today's events have drained him and he goes unconscious. Mysterie tucks him into bed; while he is sleeping it off and Jamie is attempting to... Andrew lands on the warm island to talk to this "Billy" that Jamie had mentioned was here. The boy stands out, his stark white hair is probably from experimentation as well as green eyes; his skin is a cream white like Jack's beneath tattered strips that were his clothes.

"H-hi... are you the boy Puppetmaster sent?" He asks when he sees Andrew. Andrew nods and takes a sack off his back.

"I'm Andrew. He said I should also bring you some stuff." He pulls out of the sack various colored clothes for Billy.

"What are those?" Billy looks at him strangely.

"Something for you to wear that might be more comfortable. It will help others to not be scared of you either." Billy smiles, going into the cavern behind him, it appears that the boy's been here for over many years alone and unspoken to; he comes out in a pair of jeans and a red-green hoodie with a kerchief that is a bright red. Andrew smiles a bit.

"Yeah, that looks good and I see it fits too. How long have you been here?" Billy thinks before responding.

"18 years."

"That's a fair amount of time... How is it that no one else knew you were here? I mean I can see why Jack wouldn't have, but what about the summer spirits?" Billy smiles.

"Well, I sent them away. By sent away I mean snuffed out." He pointed to the corner, there were discarded bones.

 

 

"Fed them to the piranhas." Andrew stares in shock.

"W-well that explains a l-lot I guess." Billy smiles.

"No worries, all I wanted was a friend and all they wanted to do was kill me so it's fine." 

"Ummmm...." Andrew isn't sure what to think or say on that score. Billy smiles slowly, unsure and sweating now.

"All I wanted was someone to talk to but no one but animals came by and most of the time I had to erase their memories that they ever saw me. Will you be my friend?"

"Well I'm here to give it a shot, but why would you erase animal memories?"

"So I don't get eaten of course, you won't believe how vicious the animals can be here." He shifts from foot to foot nervously.

"I see... well, why not just leave here then? I know of a few places that are safe or if you want I can put some wards up here so the animals and stuff don't bother you. I mean... that's what Uncle Jamie did around his place... and Jack has some around his..." Andrew trails off thoughtfully.

"Jack." He spoke softly, the name shot bells in his head, making Billy feel weak in the knees. Andrew looks at him a little funny.

"You okay?" Billy swoons a little.

"Yeah."

"Whoa there... you are crushing hard man... and on the wrong person let me tell ya. Not that I blame ya... but he's married... and his wife and husband are pretty protective... Though you probably saw that for yourself... Jamie can be kinda scary..." Billy kicks a nearby stone.

"I know, but wouldn't he be happier with someone who knows what fun is instead of two stick in the muds who control his life? Trust me, I saw everything, didn't even give him decisions!" 

"You mean Jamie. He's not always like that and I know Mysterie isn't. I know you like him but I wouldn't ever tell Jack what you just told me. He's just as protective of them and his kids... So I've heard from Bunny. I don't think you quite understand what you would be walking into... I mean... Maybe you should read some of these books before you do. Yeah they're for kids, but they're also about the three of them too... Don't be so quick to judge. Maybe you think I'm wrong to say this, but I also lived with them for a while. Like you, I was alone... maybe not for 18 years, but you can't know half about any of them that you think you do. At least read the books and learn about them before you do something you might regret." Andrew pulls out a box set of books; there are eleven of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: For those who are wondering, yes the books Andrew gives to Billy to read are by Sophie and are kid-friendly versions of the previous books you've been reading up to this point.


	13. Not Old Enough to Know

Billy nods.

"Fine." Meanwhile Jack is groaning slightly, as is Jamie, whom he has not stopped apologizing to for kicking and is now his personal ice pack.

"Again, why can't I just make you an ice pack?" 

"Because there's no reason and while it hurts your response was perfectly justified. I just hope to never have to do any of that again..." On top of being in pain, somewhat, Jamie is explicably exhausted and has spent a good deal of his time sleeping. Jack sighs, healing Jamie's sore balls for about 24 hours now and every time he attempts to leave Jamie would keep him seated in his lap. Jack lay his head against Jamie's neck, groaning as he felt Jamie's pain if he shifted away.

"Sorry." Meanwhile, Billy is halfway through the books, nearly finished, when he feels a sudden pain.

"Andrew... is it normal to feel pain for no reason?" Jack whines.

"Jamie... gotta go potty!" Jack squirms, trying to get up but Jamie has kept him there. After a moment Jamie relents, letting Jack up; once released, Jack jumps from Jamie and runs to the bathroom.

"No..." Andrew groans a little.

"Great.. and here I thought it was just me... You've forged a bond with him... Billy, you really shouldn't have done that... He's not gonna be too happy when he finds out." Billy looks at Andrew strangely.

"A what?" Andrew sighs a little.

"A bond is something that allows a spirit to feel what another is, sometimes even communicate telepathically with another. Jamie, Jack and Mysterie have one of the closest bonds known to exist... currently. I have a bond to Jack, but it's rather weak and while I can sense what he does I have to kind of be concentrating... at the moment... I wager what you feel is the same that I do... which is an echo of the real pain. Um... Jamie took a serious consequence for stopping your control and taking control of Jack himself..." Billy winces.

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone really, all I wanted was to play and Jack..." He blushes.

"You didn't necessarily hurt anyone so much as scare Jamie and possibly Jack... Jack has had experience in being puppeted... I seriously doubt he would consider being your friend if you did as you did without Jamie's interference. You might have just wanted a friend, but that could have gone  **horribly** wrong for you Billy... More than even these books will say because... let's face it, they are just kids books and there a _lot_ they don't say that has happened to Jack and those two." Billy nods.

"But when I saw him he was so sad and Jamie upset him." He whines.

 

 

"I imagine he was. Billy... Jack didn't ask for all the power he has or the responsibility of it... and it's just been one disaster for him after another since he began to become more powerful. He's tired of people and spirits coming after him. He's constantly on the run and Mysterie and Jamie are constantly trying to protect him from being used for evil. How would you feel if you were in his place? Wouldn't you eventually get sick of having to face one threat after another? Not just to yourself but to the ones you love? Like I said before... you don't know what your'e getting yourself into. Life isn't all fun and games for Jack... it hasn't been since Jamie died honestly... and... well... He doesn't say anything to Jamie... but I can feel it sometimes. He still feels guilty about Jamie's death because Jack was responsible for the storm that caused the outage, which in turn caused the criminal who caused Jamie's death to come out of hiding." Billy gasps.

"The poor thing." Andrew is more right than he knows, as in the bathroom Jack is having a small panic attack; after Jamie had taken control he'd shaken up many memories of guilt from the darkness that Jack has been trying to calm but how could he at the moment when he realizes he killed Jamie as an effect of a storm? Andrew nods.

"He blames himself for a lot actually... the only reason he's around so you could meet him is because of those two. They keep him stable and sane.. in more ways than you or I will ever truly understand." Mysterie sighs, recognizing an old guilt even if Jamie can't sense it over the pain he's feeling. She gently touches Jack's mind over the bond, sending reassuring thoughts even as she stands on the other side of the door and speaks quietly.

"Jack.. we've been over this many times. You weren't responsible for what happened back then." 

"YOU SURE?! 'CAUSE IT FUCKING FEELS LIKE IT!" Jack screams back, crying, as he breaks down; literally going insane from the guilt for the moment. She sighs a little and opens the door, closing it behind her and encircling her arms around him, saying quietly.

"Yes, sweetheart. I am sure. It was just his time and he came back to you, didn't he? So why are you dwelling on this now? My dear angel, you blame yourself for far too much." Jack shakes his head.

"I-i don't know... Jamie just shook a lot of my guilt-ridden memories loose when he was forced out of there..." 

"I see. Well don't let them get to you love. You know better now, remember what you've learned and keep the past where it belongs, in the past. Jack shudders, trying hard to beat back the past, but it hurts so much.

"It hurts." She hugs him close.

"Yes, the past can hurt but you've learned from it haven't you? You've done a lot of good. Yes, some of your past is dark... but so is mine love. We've all done things we're not proud of, that we wish we hadn't. Remember that and that we love you, not just in spite of it, but also because of it... because it helped make you into the spirit we love so much." Jack shivers, pushing it back and embracing the love that Mysterie is giving him.

 

 

"I be-better return to Jamie before his nads fester." He slips from the room, though not before Mysterie kisses his cheek, and sits gently on Jamie; his cold body instantly soothing his pain again. Jamie is asleep again, Jack smiles, laying by Jamie; keeping his package cool and healing. Mysterie goes back to the children who are still sleeping peacefully in the nursery. Randy wakes up crying.

"Mama, where's meewawa?" She picks up Randy, gently bouncing him to comfort him.

"Your father is resting with papa. They have some big ouchies they are sleeping off."

"You mean the ouchies on papa's penis?" Luke says aloud, startling her.

"Daddy's penis is hurty too." Mysterie sighs.

"Luke, where did you learn such a word? But yes... his private parts are hurting. Big ouch. Takes a long time to stop hurting." Luke hands over a sex book that Jack had left out.

"Daddy left this. I learned lots of words like f- and -- so inappropriate --." The boy smiles, only as a child can. Mysterie picks up the book and groans.

"Oh man... your daddy is in SO much trouble..." Jack can already feel Mysterie's anger and it wakes him up from his nap.

"HOOOT!!" His anger made him feel hot inside and Jack jumps around like he's on fire while Luke giggles as apparently he had two books.

"Mama... what's a tit?" Randy giggles.

"Why do girls got no penis?" She gathers up the books.

"I'll tell you when you're older." She leaves the room only after she's cleared out all the books in the room; going to the room where Jack and Jamie are.

"Jack... you need to be more responsible, your SONS are aware of things they shouldn't even be aware of until they're at least 16!" She tosses the books down near Jack so he can see them.

"WHY would you just leave **these** in the nursery?  _Why_ on earth would you even have them IN the nursery at all?! What were you thinking?!" Jack hides under the bed.

"I didn't leave those there, they were locked in a drawer in my study." Jack says shakily.


	14. Playtime

"No, they weren't and come out from under there, you know good and well I'm not going to hurt you."  Jack shakes.

"NO!" He replies defiantly. 

"Fine, but you're going to have to explain to Jamie then why Randy wants to know why girls don't have a penis." Jack gasps, turning a bright red.

"THEY CAN'T KNOW YET AND I AM NOT GIVING THEM THE TALK!"

"I know that, which is why I'm disappointed you were careless enough to leave those books there. I imagine you'll give them the talk at some point, but I don't mean now." She sighs a little. Jack nods, coming out from under the bed slowly and setting an ice pack he creates on Jamie's sensitive parts. He walks into the nursery only to be latched onto by Luke and Randy while Noah and Brianna are playing with a musical toy. The children giggle, happy to see Jack who smiles.

"How are my little squirts?" They giggle.

"Daddy penis hurty." Luke says and Jack groans.

"No, don't say that." The boys giggle more then Randy asks.

"Daddy, why do girls not got a peeper like us." Jack shudders.

"Uh... uh I'll tell you when you're older." They look at Brianna.

"But sissy has a penis, right?" Jack flushes brightly. Mysterie tends to the sleeping Jamie while Jack deals with the kids. Instead of answering, Jack plays with them and takes them to the living room and turns on the TV to something he thinks that they will like, Finding Nemo. Luke and Randy watch the movie, but Noah and Brianna seem more interested in the toy musical instruments. Jack smiles at that and lays back, geez... his head really hurts. Jamie wakes up briefly, only long enough to mutter his thanks to Mysterie before drifting off again. Jack sighs, looking outside in concentration to stuff the past in the past box in his mind but it is proving extremely difficult.

"Mepa?" Brianna asks as she toddles over to Jack, a mix of trying to say "papa" and "meewawa." Jack looks down and picks her up.

"Yes sweet sugar plum?" 

"Thunking?" Jack nods.

"Yes, daddy's thinking." He pets her head as he goes back to his thinking.

"Good thinks?" Jack smiles.

 

 

"Nothing to be concerned about sweetheart." Jack nuzzles her and sets her down.

"Why don't we play with the teddies huh?" He sets down a few stuffed animals near her and makes funny noises and sounds. Brianna giggles and claps her hands. Jack smiles and pretends he's being eaten by the stuffed dinosaur.

"OOH NOOO!" He goes limp when the dinosaur "bites" into him.

"Save you mepa!" Brianna uses one of the teddies to beat up the stuffed dinosaur. Jack giggles, the dinosaur falls down and he opens one eye and then tickles her.

"You saved me! Yay!" He tickles her gently; she giggles happily, laughing as he tickles her. Jack smiles, the sour memories leaving as he makes new ones of his family. Jack picks her up and hugs her.

"You're so sweet I could just eat you up." Jack blows on her belly, making fart sounds. Brianna laughs.

"No eat! No eat!" She giggles. Jack smiles.

"Nom nom, so good... Hey Mysterie, come take a bite of the sugar! It's so good!" Jack giggles blowing again. She comes into the room, chuckling as Brianna squeals.

"No mepaw! No eat me!" Jack giggles.

"Here, I saved the rest for you." He hands Brianna off as if she was a cookie, he smiles.

"How thoughtful of you, I'd better eat it up quick before it squirms away." She grins a little, pretending to nibble on Brianna who giggles.

"No eat me! No eat me!" Jack giggles.

"Oh but we must! You're so yummy!" He nibbles on a finger and she pushes him away. Brianna just giggles all the more, drawing the attention of her siblings who set to "attacking" them to save her. Jack giggles.

"What are you doing Randy?" He looks down as Randy beat the stuffing out of his foot.

"Savin' B'ina!" Randy chimes, Luke is attacking Mysterie's foot while Noah has attached himself to Jack's other leg. Jack gasps.

"But it's already too late, you three are next to be eaten!" He fakes laughing darkly as he picks up Randy and blows on his stomach.

 

 

"Mmm, tastes like chicken!!" 

"Ahh! No eats me!" Randy giggles and Jack giggles happily. Setting Brianna down, Mysterie picks up Luke and starts to "nibble" on him.

"This one tastes like apple pie!" Luke squeals happily while Jack gasps.

"Really!!" He nibbles on Luke's toes.

"Yes! Here, I'll trade you the apple pie for the chicken!" She grins, holding Luke out to Jack while the boy giggles. Jack giggles.

"Yes." He trades off Randy as Noah clings to him.

"Papa." Jack looks down and picks Noah up.

"MMM Chocolate vanilla!!" He nibbles on Noah's neck and then Luke's, making them giggle.

"OM NOM NOM." Mysterie chuckles.

"Save me some desert!" She nibbles on Randy who giggles.

"No eat! No eat!" Jack smiles.

"Oh yes, yes I will." He finishes "eating" Luke and sets him down.

"Oh, I am so full." He lays on the floor, patting his belling; Mysterie laughs, giggling while the children giggle and call out.

"Get papa!" They attack him, trying to tickle him.

"Oh no! I'm outnumbered! Mysterie save me!" He reaches out to her. She laughs, tickling a couple of the children who giggle, but still try and tickle him. Jack gasps for air.

"I GIVE! I GIVE!" The children cheer and laugh, chasing each other around the room. Jack sighs, feeling so much happier than he had before; Mysterie settles down by him happily as she watches the children, thinking to herself that this was a bit of paradise. The children were happy and healthy and both Jamie and Jack were here, with her, happy. What more could anyone ask for? After all, their most dangerous of foes were either dead or trapped now; peace, it was a fleeting thing, but she hoped it would last this time. When was the last time that things had actually been peaceful? She couldn't really remember but she didn't dwell on it either.


	15. Starting Again

Billy finished the last of the books.

"They sound fantastic, but how is it they make friends?" He turns to Andrew, unsure. Andrew is leaning against a tree.

"Well, same as anyone does I imagine. They make friends by helping others, being nice to them and putting the needs of others before their own." Billy nods.

"Do you think me and Jack could be friends?" He looks at the other boy pleadingly.

"I donno Billy. Maybe. I won't speak for Jack, even if he and I are family." Billy nods.

"I want to apologize to them, first... can we get off this island maybe?" 

"Of course. Do you have a way off or do you need a lift?" 

"I need a lift; I actually was washed ashore from when the lab exploded." He looked down, sadly, remembering exactly what had happened. That was the first time he'd seen Jack; he had looked so peaceful before... but attached to those wires, Billy had no idea... 

"Ouch. Alright. I can give you a lift then. As a winter spirit the North Wind and I are on good terms. Just hold my hand and don't let go okay?" Andrew stands up and offers his hand after having packed away the books he'd brought. Billy shakily takes Andrew's hand, unsure. Andrew gives him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, I won't drop you." He holds onto his new friend's hand.

"Hey wind! Take us to the Ice Castle!" The wind picks up, picking up the two boys and Andrew flies off towards the castle with a chuckle; it had taken him a while to get used to using the wind and not being scared of heights... okay, he was still afraid, just not like before and he trusted the wind. Back at the castle Jack sighs, so very relaxed and the little munchkins have fallen asleep on him; he was now their personal cuddle pillow. Mysterie smiles, watching them sleep though she glances up after a moment as there is a gentle tinkling sound.

"Hmmm... apparently we have guests." Jack looks over sleepily at that, after a few minutes the door of the nursery opens and Andrew stands there; Billy hides behind Andrew shyly, shaking.

"Hey Andrew, what brings you here?" 

"My friend Billy wanted to say hi. He's a little shy honestly." Andrew says, glancing over his shoulder.

 

 

"Well, you kind of were too at first." Mysterie replies, she hadn't forgotten the shy boy she had met what seemed like almost yesterday and yet before her was a confident winter spirit now. Jack smiles at first.

"Wait... his name is Billy? He's the kid that was..." Billy shakes a little, looking down when Andrew steps aside a little.

"I'm sorry Mr. Jack but I just wanted attention... a friend... and I thought I could gain a friend by making you forget things." Jack shakes his head.

"I-it's okay, just don't do it again." Jack carefully slips away from the children without disturbing their rest; the boy seems to remind him so much of himself at that moment, of how he'd used to be. He holds his hand out to him and Billy takes it, shaking it.

"Well, Billy, how about we be friends?" The boy lights up like a child on Christmas.

"Really!" Jack nods as he glances over to the children who have woken from their nap and are crawling over to Mysterie

"These are my sons and daughter." He points to each one.

"Noah." Noah giggles.

"Luke." Luke crawls over to Jack and grabs his hand, biting it a little as he is teething.

"Ow."

"Don't bite Luke." Mysterie chides the toddler, swathing him gently in warning when he gives her a mean look.

"Don't be sassy either mister or you'll be in trouble." 

"Randy," Jack points to the one who is blowing a snot bubble which Mysterie deals with quickly.

"and the sweetness here is Brianna." Brianna had crawled over and latched onto Jack's leg, she giggles.

"MEPA!" Andrew smiles at the kids.

"Boy, they grow fast. I still remember when they were just all infants." Mysterie nods in agreement.

"Wait... where's Jamie? Is he here?" 

"Yes, he's asleep at the moment." 

 

 

Jack sighs.

"I may have broken Jamie a little through ten kicks to the-" Jack shuts up at Mysterie's glare and he looks at the two boys who give him a curious look.

"I'm sorta in trouble with her right now, the boys found... ahem... some inappropriate books in my study." He tries then to sneak away to hide with Jamie while Billy looks at Mysterie.

"Hi, I'm really sorry for causing so much trouble; I was just lonely." She nods a little.

"It's nice to meet you. I wish that hadn't happened, but I can say I understand. I was a lonely child myself when I was younger. Granted, I didn't have the power to do anything about it at the time though like you did." Billy shudders.

"I saw him at the lab, that was before you and Jamie got to him and took him away... around that time I was experimented with and then the island blew up."

"I see... I guess that explains a lot. I thought I saw another tank in the room when Jamie came in the first time... but I wasn't sure if there was anything in it... Had I known... I would have insisted Jamie take you with us." Billy sighs.

"It's not your fault, I was just unconscious at the time, getting nutrients... that's what my sister said." She shakes her head.

"I'm sorry you had to have someone like her as family. That she would exploit your trust like that." Billy gasps.

"No, no! She loved me, she loved me with all her heart! She was only helping me..." Tears fell from the boy's eyes at that, but the truth was his sister was evil from the start and she'd used his powers to control the wolves, to find out all about Jack, Mysterie and Jamie. She moves over to the boy and kneels gently before him.

"It's hard... when family doesn't love us the way they should. I know that better than anyone Billy. My family... they said all the time that they loved me... but when push came to shove... none of them understood me or even truly tried to. Maybe my father did his best the way he knew how... but he also never would attempt to truly listen to me when I said something, he didn't support me all of the time the way he said he would. He never treated me like an adult even when I was one. Maybe I didn't have someone exactly like your sister... but I know the pains of having around someone who should love and care for you... who ends up only hurting you in the end." Billy looks up, a look of understanding passes between the two of them. 

"I know now, I'm f-free to do what I want... make friends... start fresh and not be some science experiment gone wrong." He smiles a little.

"Just where can I go though? I have no where to live."


	16. Another Addition

Mysterie smiles a little at Billy.

"If you like, you can take one of the spare rooms we have here. We have plenty of room. Andrew, would you like to show him around?" Andrew nods with a smile. Billy smiles.

"Really? I c-can live with you guys?" He asks, unsure and still very shy. Just a boy-man that was only an experiment in his own mind.

"I don't see why not. You have no where else to go and until you decide to make a home of your own, like Andrew, you are welcome to." Billy smiles and follows Andrew further into the castle while Jack is trying to make Jamie's "boo boo" go away with butterfly kisses of ice. Jamie yawns, stretching a little as he begins to stir; he mutters with a hint of a smile and amusement in his tone.

"Do you really think that's a good idea Jack?" Jack giggles.

"If it'll make you feel better than yes, it is." Jamie chuckles softly.

"I can't say it will hurt... at least... I don't think so... but don't say I didn't warn you." Jack giggles.

"Warn me about what?" He asks as he kisses the side, Jamie groans a little; though it's half in exasperation, half in pleasure.

"Jaaaack...." Jack smiles, kissing more gently but also making sure his kisses are as light as possible. Jamie squirms a little, shivering with pleasure from the kisses. Jack blows on the slit gently as he kisses every inch of it. Jamie shudders, whimpering from the pleasure; Jack licks it tentatively, but ever so gently. Jamie shudders in response, arching a little from the pleasure that shoots through him and Jack licks a little more.

"God Jack...." Jamie groans, shuddering from the pleasure as Jack continues his ministrations. Jamie whimpers, squirming restlessly from the pleasure; he threads his fingers lightly through Jack's hair in silent encouragement. Jack brings him closer, and close to the edge, as he slides his tongue along Jamie's length. Jamie shudders, crying out as the pleasure slams into him; his body quivering from the force of the pleasure as Jack licks the slit, completely pushing him over the edge. Jamie shifts to pull Jack up to him so that he can kiss him properly. Jack kisses him gently.

"Feel better?" Jamie smiles a little.

"Much." Jack hugs him close while Billy is "oohing" and "awing" at the castle's many rooms and structure. Andrew takes Billy to see the ice garden before showing him two of the spare rooms; the last room that he shows Billy is the one that Jamie had made for him. It is decorated in light and pale blues.

"If you don't like the other two you could use this one, it's the room Jamie gave me when I lived here. I didn't really live here long, but I think it suits me." Andrew smiles a little and Billy returns the smile.

 

 

"It definitely does!!" 

"So what do you think? I honestly think the place is an awesome work of art. I hope I'll find someone one day who's as dedicated to me as Jamie is to Jack. I think it'd be awesome if someone built me something like this." Billy grins.

"It's fantastic!" Andrew smiles.

"So, which room did you pick?" Billy smiles.

"The one near the garden." 

"Nice. I'm sure Jamie will let you change the colors if you like too." 

"I like purple." 

"That's a good color. I'm sure if you talk to Jamie once he's up he'll help you with it." Billy nods, but his smile disappears.

"Are you sure he's not mad at me?" 

"Don't think so." 

"Really?" He looks at Andrew hopefully. Andrew shrugs a little.

"Doesn't seem to be, but you'll have to talk with him yourself." Billy shivers at that.

"Okay." He looks at Andrew with a smile.

"Thanks for helping me." 

"Of course." Andrew smiles a little and Billy smiles back before heading to the room where Jack and Jamie were. Sensing someone close, Jamie wraps a blanket around the two of them; there is a soft knock on the door and Jack whines as he doesn't want to wake up.

"Excuse me... Mr. Jamie?" Billy is so shy and afraid, he barely even taps the door as it is; Jack whines a little and shivers, pulling the blanket tightly around him and Jamie. Jamie raises an eyebrow when he recognizes the voice. He disentangles himself from Jack and gets up, dressing before he slips from the room. It is who he thought; he shuts the door quietly behind him so not to wake Jack.

"Something you need?" Billy gulps.

 

 

"I... just want to say I'm sorry Mr. Jamie. For attacking you and Jack, and trying to make him my friend." He looks down at the floor.

"And... thank you for letting me live here. I was wondering... if you could make my room purple." Jamie crouches down.

"Relax. I'm not going to bite and yeah, I think we can do that once you decide on the shade you want." Billy smiles.

"Thanks Mr. Jamie... um... a night color purple... maybe like the night sky!" Boy did he love the starts and would look and wish for hours back on the island, the moon was his friend as well as the night.

"Can... maybe I get a star room? Like... so I can look at the stars when I lay down."

"Of course. Though would you prefer painted or enchanted?" Jamie smiles a little at the boy's enthusiasm; it reminds him of Andrew. Billy giggles shyly.

"E-enchanted?" He asks, unsure.

"Jaaaaamie, come back to beeeed." Jack whines. Jamie chuckles a little and promises in a moment over the bond.

"Yeah, there's all sort of things we can do. Why don't you head to the library for now and look up a few things? There's plenty of books there on the things you can do with magic to decorate a room." Billy giggles and nods quickly, going down the hall where Andrew had showed him, and none too soon had he disappeared...

"Jaaaamie... I wanna kiss the boo boos better, come back." Jamie is just glad the boy is out of earshot at that and slips back into the room.

"Really Jack... shouting a thing like that... it's a good thing the rooms are soundproof." That, of course, hadn't stopped him from hearing it over the bond... He smiles though as he slips back into the bed, slipping his arms around Jack who kisses his arm.

"I wanna get rid of the boo boos!" Jamie chuckles softly.

"I think you got rid of most of them." Jack sighs.

"But you're not healed yet!" He whines and kisses Jamie's stomach.

"You got a boo boo here." He kisses his neck next.

"A boo boo there." Jamie chuckles at Jack's antics.

"Not all the way, no, but pretty close I imagine. I'm not as tired as I was yesterday." Jack smiles.


	17. Power Troubles

"That's great." He sighs as his body thrums with power suddenly.

"Damn... I hate when I go through power spurts. Mother Nature said it would be constant since how much power I have." Jamie nods thoughtfully.

"Makes sense." Jack nods.

"I HATE IT!!"

"So you've said." Jack turns, groaning again as power crackles inside him. 

"Hmmmm, perhaps we should figure out an outlet for that power of yours. Sort of like a lightening rod in terms... but not a literal one of course." Jack nods.

"It hurts me too." 

"I imagine so... have you tried simply releasing the excess in a training session?" Jack nods.

"Even after training it returns and burns my insides like hell." 

"Hmmm... tried transferring it?" Jack sighs.

"I do that and you'll explode. Mother Nature said only powerful immortals like MiM or her can handle it... or m-me. Sort of." 

"I wasn't actually referring to me there... no way I could handle anything like that but..." Jack sighs.

"I.. I don't think I want to transfer this to her. It could either hurt her or make her explode like you, only it could destroy the world." Jack whines.

"I don't think it would hurt her... although I do wonder, how would it destroy the world?" Jack groans.

"I'm just gonna deal with it every few weeks."

"I'm just trying to suggest ideas here. Besides, we can't simply ignore possibilities if there's a solution." Jack nods.

"I'll be fine, just go back to bed." Jamie raises an eyebrow at Jack's choice of words.

"Little hard to go back if I haven't left it yet." Meanwhile, Billy was having a hard time choosing a book to read; he was frustrated about it.

 

 

"What book should I get?" He asked himself, not expecting an answer.

"Just pick 'em all. Then read 'em one by one." Andrew says as he pokes his head from behind a shelf in what is a massive library. Billy jumps at that, shaking.

"Aw, Andrew... you scared me. I'll do that then." 

"Sorry, didn't meant to. Was just looking for a book myself." Billy nods, picking out all the enchanted room books.

"Ooh this one looks nice... b-but I'm not sure I can handle fire for light."

"I'm sure Jamie or Mysterie can help you with that, or anything else really." Billy nods.

"M-maybe I could get the seeing globe room, where if I choose a part of the world I can see what's going on all in the comfort of my own room."

"Why don't you get a pad of paper and make a list of what you want, of what you envision your room to be." Billy nods gratefully.

"YAY!!" Andrew smiles a little, fetching the other boy a pen and paper so he can start writing everything down. Billy wrote down the need for maybe desks, closet, windows... lots of windows... maybe a skylight. Andrew leaves Billy to his work, not wanting to seem intrusive or anything as he goes back to looking for a book Jamie had once told him was in the library. In the other room Jack snuggles into Jamie keeping his nada cool to keep them from throbbing painfully; Jamie yawns a little and snuggles close. The next morning Jack wakes with a slight groan.

"God, my head..." Jamie works to take away some of the pain, although considering what was likely the cause he is pretty sure that his power can only numb some of the pain, but it can't actually take it away completely. Some things are beyond his power, which is - more often than not in his mind - meager at best. Jack shudders and slips off the bed.

"Ow." Jamie looks over at Jack.

"You okay?" Jack sighs.

"I'm fine." 

"Kind of a bit of a switch... normally I'm the done falling out of the bed." Jack nods, not feeling up to it today; his eyes look like neon headlights of a car as his body seems to be having problems with energy. When Jamie touches Jack he gets a shock that really hurts and slams him into the wall.

"Man... you're like a charged battery..." Jamie comments after one jolt has sent him slamming into a wall. He waves off the concern of being hurt; he isn't a little surprised by the force, but considering the jolt had been electric he is fine. Anything that had to do with the element of light, which includes all forms of electricity, doesn't hurt let alone even phase him. 


	18. Orb

Jack shutters and doesn't move from his spot, he reaches for a lamp's light switch only for it to explode. Jack shivers.

"Well, we didn't need light anyway."

"Not really, I'll fix it later." Jack sighs and walks to the living room with Jamie following; he walks by the TV and it makes a sound like "fizzzz" then explodes.

"AHH! DAMN IT!" Mysterie walks over to Jack.

"That's an interesting problem you have there dear." Jack sighs.

"Yeah, means I'm going to be a light house battery for a few hours."

"Hmmm... well I might have a solution to your problem... or a temporary one anyway." Jack looks at her curiously.

"And what's that?" 

"Well, I was reading up on a few spells and enchanted items. There's supposedly this orb that can absorb energy and store it. I've never seen it, but maybe one of the other Guardians has." Jack nods.

"That would be great."

"I'd try talking to Bunny first, I've heard rumors he's got all sorts of stuff stashed in that Warren of his." Jack nods again.

"Alright then, until then make sure the kids don't latch onto me." She nods.

"Might be difficult to do that in an hour or so... you might want to go now while the kids are still asleep." Jack nods.

"Alright." He opens the nearest window and is blown out.

"OUCH! OKAY NO WIND!!!" Mysterie winces a little.

"You might want to try more conventional means for now..." He nods.

"Alright then." He sighs and walks his way through the castle and out the door; walking to the Warren was going to take a while. When Jack makes it, Bunny is weeding one of his gardens. Bunny is slightly alarmed to notice that Jack is there and that he's not floating as usual. Bunny darts through the Warren, thinking that something is amiss... Jack **never** just came through a tunnel on foot... Jack sighs when he sees Bunny.

 

 

"You alright there mate?"

"I'm fine, I just can't take the wind without causing a storm 'cause of my power." Bunny gives him a funny look.

"I'd call that a problem mate. What brings ya here?" 

"I was wondering if you could, you know... corral and take some of the excess energy. If I touch anyone they get a backlash and electrical systems explode." 

"Ah... well I don't think I could... but I think I have somethin' that might do it. Hang here a tic." Bunny bounds off to a small corner of the Warren where his home is. Jack sits on the grass, one of the eggs comes over and nudges Jack only to explode. Another came over to do the same and Jack gasps.

"STOP! NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!" Two minutes later egg shells are everywhere and Jack is in a fetal position. Bunny returns, unaware he's short several eggs, in one palm is what looks like a small crystal ball. He nearly sighs when he notices the egg shells but he doesn't seem angry as more eggs move close he shoos them away from Jack so they don't get too close.

"Off with ya now..." He turns to Jack once the eggs are safely away.

"Was given this one day, not many humans remember this little artifact; belonged to one of the few Mortal Guardians to ever influence mankind and be remembered. Not that anyone remembers the story proper now. It should do the trick. All ya need to is focus the extra energy into it, it's a special kinda crystal so it won't just explode on ya or nothin'." Jack shivers from having inadvertently caused so many googie deaths. He takes the orb and focus as Bunny has said to, it glows brightly like a mini super nova and Jack whines.

"It hurts... why does it hurt!" Bunny tries not to look at it.

"Donno mate. Ya might ask North about that... or Mother Nature. I'm not really an expert on such things. Anyway, at least with that ya won't have ta worry about dischargin' the power where ya don't want. It'll store it fer ya." Jack nods.

"That's great." 

"Anythin' else I ken help ya with?" Jack his head.

"No, nothing else unless you have a cure for maybe..." Jack's voice drops to a whisper about how he'd kicked Jamie hard in the jewels though he doesn't explain why.

 

 

"If you have anything for that he would be grateful." Bunny winces.

"Crickey mate... I'd hate to find out what he did ta make ya that mad... And no, there ain't no cure for somethin' like that... just time I reckon. Though I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes sterile as a result. Jack snickers.

"Well I wouldn't say that..." He snickers darkly.

"Also, the reason is one you'll know when you find yourself a mate." Jack bounds out, flying on the wind happily; no pain, no large storms or attacks around the world if he barely touches it. It is as if he is back to being a normal winter spirit again, rather than the powerful winter seasonal he is. Bunny says nothing to Jack's parting words; he'd had a potential mate once... That had been before Pitch... He sighs a little as Jack leaves. He hasn't found anyone to ever catch his interest again and he doesn't think he will. After all, he is the last of his kind... Jack shudders as he crashes into the wall, almost, in his excitement to be normal again... and almost into Jamie who is fixing the TV... or was, but now it's broken again. Jamie stumbles a little as he looks at Jack.

"Whoa, you okay there?" He nods.

"I'm fine, maybe could use a few bandages... my face is cut up." He pulls his head from the TV and turns, a few pieces seem to be embedded in his skin and he has other cuts.

"It doesn't hurt though, cause my face is numb right now." Jamie winces a little but summons Mysterie over the bond to deal with the damage; she appears a few moments later.

"I'm not even going to ask why you hit the TV." She says as she patches Jack up with her sand. Jack sighs.

"I'm fine now." He sighs again.

"Well, I just got this orb from Bunny that I need to use for weekly energy storing and drainage." Jack shows the two the orb before heading off to his room to store it in a cabinet.

"Just in case." He says to himself, not sure if he really needed to do that weekly or if it was a one time thing; he'd forgotten to ask Bunny about that. Jamie, having followed Jack, puts a seal on the cabinet he sets the orb into; setting it to Jack's hand print only.

"Just in case. " Jack turns to look at him once Jamie's done with the seal.

"Who would take that thing anyways?" 

"Not worried about anyone stealing it so much as little hands accidentally getting to it... better safe than sorry." Jack nods.


	19. Remodeling

"Yeah." He sighs again.

"So how are the little munchkins?" Jamie smiles.

"Playful as usual, Andrew is keeping them company for the moment." Jack smiles back, but it fades a moment when he remembers they have another addition to the castle.

"H-how's Billy?" Billy, meanwhile, is still searching the books he's pulled from the library; having landed on one that reminded him of greek gods, only under water. He liked the idea.

"Maybe Mr. Jamie can make it as if I'm under water and I can see animals swim by every few hours..." He mutters to himself.

"Last I heard he was still combing through my library; Andrew says he's got quite the imagination for what he wants for his room... should be interesting to see what he comes up with." Jack smiles.

"Yeah." Jack walks off to visit the garden while Jamie sets to fixing the TV, again. He just finishes up when he hears a knock at the open door and calls out.

"Door's open, come on in."

"Mr. Jamie, I came up with my room." Billy comes into the room, looking like he is about to faint as Jack had returned to see if Jamie was done fixing things.

"Hey Billy." Jack waves.

"Hi mister Jack." He sighs at that.

"Just call me Jack and Jamie, Jamie. You don't have to call us mister." He shivers a little at the thought.

"I learned that I have to be polite or I could get those daily shocks for impoliteness like my sister told me." That makes Jack's blood burn like hot lava.

"She what..." His eyes slowly turn a storm blue, the hidden ball hits the side of the cabinet it's in as it tries to vainly draw away Jack's power from where it's at but Jack is too mad to even notice that Billy has backed up.

"I-it's nothing. Jack, please... c-calm down." Billy moves closer to Jamie, handing him a list of what he wants. Jamie nods and moves over to Jack, murmuring soothingly that there's nothing to do about what's happened now but to slowly undo the damage that was done by having Billy there. Only once Jack seems more calm does he move back over to Billy and kneels down to his level.

 

 

"Let's get something straight here, okay? No one is going to hurt you in any shape or form if you do or don't address us in any particular manner. We're not really formal here, and the term makes Jack uncomfortable." He looks at the list.

"You've got quite the imagination... I think I'm going to need Mysterie's help for some of this, but it's all doable." He then whispers softly with a grin. 

"Between you and me, I think it has something to do with making him feel old..." Billy grins at that.

"Really?" 

"Hey! I'm not old! I'm only 333!"  Jack growls.

"See what I mean?" Jamie mutters to Billy with a slight grin and Billy giggles.

"Jamie..." Jack says warningly, glaring at him with an 'I am not old' expression. Jamie holds up his hands in mock surrender while Mysterie chuckles as she comes in. Jack goes back to his room to lounge on the bed, trying to calm himself down again; he sighs and grabs the ball, urging some more of his power into it. The ball cracks a little, Jack sighs and puts it back; after a moment the ball seals the crack itself, while Billy laughs in the other room, amused by the banter between Jack and Jamie.

"Thanks for helping me m- I mean Jamie." Jamie smiles.

"No problem kiddo. Now, why don't we get started? Mysterie, you want to come help?" She nods and Jamie hands her the list so she can look at it. Billy bounces happily with the two of them as he leads them to the room he's chosen, reminding the two of Jack and Andrew. Jamie chuckles a little at the boy's enthusiasm as he follows the teen spirit out; thinking that he acts more like he's the eight years old that Andrew looks like he is. It's a little weird, but funny too in a way. Mysterie follows the both of them to the room near the garden. Billy zooms about the room here and there, telling Jamie and Mysterie how he liked the structure and his ideas of the room. Jack, meanwhile, shivers as he turns on a cloud made from his power.

"Damn it... I can't sleep." He sighs quietly, trying to fall asleep on the cloud but it's as if he can't because something doesn't want him to...  Mysterie watches Billy zoom around in some amusement as he talks a mile a minute. Jamie just listens patiently. Meanwhile Andrew has his hands full with the little kids, who insist on using him as the "monster" attacking their "block city" and beat him with the stuffed animals to "defeat him." Billy finally stops talking for a few minutes once they reach the room by the garden; not used to having had someone to listen to him actually talk, he'd had a lot to say. After an hour or so of listening to the boy's unwritten wants for things on the list, Mysterie and Jamie had the room just right between the two of them. The skylight above was just right so that anyone looking could see all of the sky, the walls move like the ocean with various fish and sharks swimming by while the floor is a dark brown like a cavern; the bathroom to the right has the same look as the bedroom walls only the floor of the shower is modern. Near the skylight, in the bedroom, a purple hammock big enough for three hung in the air; tucked away in one corner is a dresser that opens automatically or manually, depending on preferences set and with it were some video games, books, and a TV. In another corner is a globe.


	20. A Fitting Punishment

"Thank you so much!" Billy says, hopping happily in his new room; both Jamie and Mysterie smile.

"No problem."

"I'm glad you like it. Now, if you'll excuse me I must rescue a "monster" from the "citizens of blocksville." Mysterie says before she leaves the room to rescue poor Andrew.

"Guess I don't have to worry about you liking it, though I do have one question for you. Why a hammock so high up?" Billy smiles.

"So I can be close to the sky, I feel happier near the sky and I lived in a hammock made of leaves up away from predators."

"Ah, interesting. Let us know if you need anything else. I still need to finish fixing a few things." Jamie heads back to the TV room to finish some repairs. Billy smiles, watching the fish come by along the walls; it is beautiful, as is the sky above him now. Jack sighs, moving this way and that; whining a bit as it sucks that he just can't go to sleep and he wants to know what it is that is keeping him awake, wondering about it. Jack groans.

"Damn... head hurts." 

"HEE DAMN DADDY!!" Jack gasps and turns to see Luke has left the nursery and is now toddling into his room.

"No, no don't say that! That bad, bad word... don't say-"

"Damn Damn damn DAMN DAMN!" Luke says loudly like a song. Jack groans.

"NO NO NO! BAD BAD WORD!!" Mysterie counts heads in the nursery while Andrew makes his escape.

"Alright... where's Luke?" Andrew shrugs and they both leave the room in search of the wayward child. Luke, meanwhile, sings the curse word over and over again.

"No! Shhh... stop!" Luke is now muffled by Jack's chest as Luke says.

"Dadie, no more milk remembers?" It's at that moment that Mysterie walks into the room.

"Ah, there you are Luke. I wondered where you'd gotten off to. Going to have to start locking things now." 

"DAMN YOU!!" Luke yells at her. Jack looks like he wants to hide in the closet.

 

 

"DADDIE TAUGHT ME." He says proudly as Mysterie frowns at him and then swats him on the bottom hard enough to sting.

"No! Do NOT say that word young man! As for you  _Jack **...**_ what did I say about watching your language?" Jack doesn't speak, still holding the now crying Luke.

"DADDY TAUGHT ME! DADDY SAID DAMN!" He cries out, as if that makes any difference.

"That doesn't mean  **you** should too mister. Your father is in trouble too." She swats him again.

"No more saying that word." Andrew comes in at her mental call over the bond and takes away the crying Luke, taking him back to the nursery; Jack took that moment to hide.

"Jack Frost stop hiding!" Mysterie scolds, Jack doesn't move a muscle now as he hides on the ceiling; he digs his nails in as he makes his way to the door slowly... hoping to avoid her anger. Mysterie sends a message to Jamie who seals the two of them in the room; all the doors and windows vanish so that she can deal with Jack without having to chase him all over the castle... or all over the world for that matter. Jack silently gasps as his escape routes are suddenly gone.

"Damn it Jamie!" He says under his breath as he manages to scramble into the ceiling itself to hide.

"Jack... seriously. One would think you thought I was going to murder you." She says in exasperation as she searches; Jack hides, but it doesn't keep her from knowing where he's at. After a moment she floats over to him on some sand.

"Jack, get OUT of the ceiling."  _Boy... never thought I'd say THAT to anyone..._ Jack crawls away.

"NO!" He tries hiding in the ceiling over the hall, which doesn't hold his weight and he gasps as it begins cracking... Mysterie sends her sand after him to keep him from escaping the room through the ceiling itself or falling through it as the case is. Jack cries out as his nails drag on the ceiling... which is now the floor to him... making a squealing sound much like marble as the sand pulls him back to her.

"NOOOO!!!!" The sand wraps him in a warm cocoon and brings him over to her. She simply raises an eyebrow then when the sand shifts to become a cloud bed. Jack whines, hiding under the sand bed's covers. She gently pulls him from the sand, sighing a little; she can't stay angry with him when he's like this. She gently presses a kiss to his forehead and lips to calm him; he smiles and kisses her back.

"I'm in trouble still, aren't I?" She sighs a little.

"Yes, but I'm not going to swat your bottom for it." 

"What are you gonna do?" He asks curiously.

 

 

"Well, you're not a child... so a child's punishment won't do... Hmmm..." She becomes thoughtful and he winces, squirming to get away.

"Hmmm... a spell perhaps?" Jack squirms more, slipping away like an eel and crawling under the bed; her sand absently tugs him out from under the bed. Jack squirms and struggles against it, flailing uselessly.

"Ahh!!" 

"Ah! I've got it... a silence spell. It will last a few days." Jack gasps as she weaves the spell.

"There now. You will be able to use non-verbal communication, but you won't be able to form words for the next 72 hours. Though that shouldn't stop you from using the bond to communicate since it's technically non-verbal." Jack pouts at that.

"Pout all you like mister, but I think it's only fitting since you have trouble watching what you say." Jack sighs, or rather it's more of a silent sigh.

"Anyway, it's only temporary." Jack huffs.

 _"Yeah. Temporary."_ He says over the bond.

"Hey, there are worse punishments. Besides you cannot say I didn't warn you before hand about watching what you say." Jack glares, but nods in understanding while Luke is busy being taught why the word is bad. Jamie replaces the windows and doors, letting the two out of the room at Mysterie's call. Jack huffs in annoyance and follows her out of the room and to the nursery where Randy, Luke, Noah, and Brianna are now playing cars. Andrew is off to one side, watching the group with a small smile; just happy that they don't want to make him a "monster" again. Jack sits in the rocking chair and Randy crawls up into his lap.

"Daddy!!" Jack pats his head while Mysterie smiles at the group.

"Just so you know, your daddy can't talk for a while. That's his punishment for saying things he shouldn't." Andrew glances over at Jack, raising an eyebrow a little in surprise; wondering if she's telling the truth on that score as just the thought of allowing such a thing to be done, particularly since Jack is more powerful, just seems... out of place. Jack huffs, and as if to prove it the truth, nothing comes out as he tries to speak. He glares at Mysterie and writes on an ice board that he creates himself:  I hate you.   

She chuckles.

"Where have I heard that before?" Andrew stares in a mix of shock and amusement. Jack writes again on the board:  You're enjoying this aren't you?

By the time he's finished writing, Brianna is hanging off his neck, kicking at him slightly as he makes noises of nothing but it's obvious that it hurts and he pushes her away gently.


End file.
